


A Matter of Leverage

by MaskedHooligan



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Leverage!AU, Other, oh also alcohol/minor language and other adult themes not suitable for kiddos, this will have pretty tame violence and heavily implied minor character death so tread with caution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:25:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 53,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaskedHooligan/pseuds/MaskedHooligan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin Validar has been having a hard time of things, secluding herself to a life of solitude and the bottle. Until, that is, she gets roped into and old friend's scheme to steal back some stolen plans. Forced to work as a team with a group of unapologetic thieves by trade, Robin learns that maybe being a thief doesn't have to be so bad after all. And maybe she's pretty good at it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Opening Act

The amber liquid swishes around as she slowly spins the glass, expression blank. In moments she drains the glass, then sets it down on the counter just hard enough to insinuate to the bartender she’s in need of a refill. The gesture is hardly needed—she’s one of only a few spending such late hours in the bar on a work night, and the bartender has been keeping track of keeping her glass well stocked.

She rests her hands out flat on the counter as she waits for another, breathing so pointedly that even that sounds almost rehearsed.

“This is your last one, Robin,” the bartender says evenly as the refill is placed before her.

Robin looks up slowly with eyes heavy lidded from exhaustion, the corners of her lips turning slowly down.

“You should get home,” he says with genuine concern. “Let me call you a taxi. Please.”

“Don’t bother,” Robin mutters, grabbing the glass as she slides off the stool.

“Robin—” the bartender begins, but one of the other patrons intercepts him. While he’s distracted, Robin drains her glass then sets it down on the counter as she pulls on her coat. By the time the bartender turns back, the bell above the door is jingling.

“Oi, Stahl,” the other patron rumbles in a deep timbre. “The sad lady friend of yours?”

“She’s been a regular lately,” Stahl replies, face pinching in concern just as it has all of the previous times Robin’s visited. “Honestly, I don’t think she has any friends.”

“It look like she very good friends with Mr. Bourbon,” the patron winks theatrically, belting out a deep belly laugh moments later. His expression quickly sobers at Stahl’s incredulous glance. “Gregor makes joke. You just overthinking things. No one is without friends in world. Even if drunk lady not know it yet, this is undeniable truth.”

“That was rather wise of you, Gregor,” Stahl allows himself a grin.

“Gregor often is! Young people would see this if they’d stop every once in while to smell roses. But Gregor won’t keep you any longer! Stahl must be eager to close up, yes?”

“Just as soon as I call a taxi for _you_ ,” Stahl chuckles, even more so as Gregor makes a face of insulted indignation.

“Kids these days have no respect for Gregor!”

 

* * *

 

Robin mutters darkly, fumbling the keys in the lock, oversized coat already sliding off one shoulder as the door finally clicks open. With sluggish movements her shoes are kicked off one by one as the coat slouches off of her, falling to the ground in a dejected pile beside the haphazard pile of shoes and boots. With no less care she shuffles clumsily to the kitchen cabinet, pulling out a glass.

 “Gods, they were right!” a voice says from the dark of her living room, too painfully chipper to be meaningful. She continues on as Robin whips around fast enough to cause herself dizziness, placing a hand heavily on the counter for balance. “You really are a mess, aren’t ya?”

“I’m not coming back,” Robin glares as the intruder turns on the lights, looking all too pleased with herself. Robin’s eyes narrow all the more at the face that hasn’t change in years, red hair pulled up into her trademark ponytail. The only thing that was different was her casual choice of dress, exchanged for her usual business-like pencil skirt and blouse.

“Aw c’mon, Robin. No need to treat your old friend Anna like that.”

“No shoes on in the house,” Robin says immediately out of habit, fishing out a bottle as Anna clicks her tongue.

“Haven’t you been hitting that enough lately?”

“How did you get in here?” Robin asks, though her voice is flat.

“Your landlord,” Anna provides. “He’s a bit of a perv, but seems like a nice enough old guy. He was happy enough to lend me a key.”

Hubba was happy enough to do just about anything for a woman who batted her eyelashes.

“Guess it’s time for me to move,” Robin deadpans.

“No need to jump to conclusions!” Anna lifts her hands up placatingly. “This is serious, Robin. I need your help.”

“I already said it,” Robin says with enough acid to melt metal. “I’m not going back.”

“Still bitter about all that?” Anna walks over to lean against the counter beside Robin. “It’s been… what? Five years now? Your little boy—”

Anna cuts herself off when Robin’s fists find a home in the front of her shirt, dragging her over until they’re nose to nose, nothing in Anna’s vision but the most enraged eyes she’s ever seen.

“Don’t you _dare_ bring him up. Don’t you dare even _speak_ about him. You and all of the other Excellus cronies can go to hell for all I care.”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Anna says hurriedly, hands up in surrender again. “This has nothing to do with Excellus _or_ his company! Well actually, a little bit in—ow, ow, okay!” Anna flinches as Robin’s grip tightens. “I left them years ago! Shortly after you did! The help I need is personal, and from someone I know is trustworthy.”

Robin gives Anna a long look before releasing her shirt. She drains her glass while she waits for Anna to recover.

“I was robbed,” Anna says, serious enough that Robin knows the jokes are over.

“That’s when you call the police,” Robin says unhelpfully.

“Look, it’s not that simple, okay?” Anna frowns. “I own a travel company now, and it’s doing well enough, but I’m working on getting it bigger. So I had some of my guys working on plans for new and improved planes, ships—for travel, and to eventually breach into the aerospace industry. But Robin, we are talking about cutting edge fuel efficiency! These plans would see me taking the aerospace industry by storm.”

“So someone stole your plans,” Robin interrupts, sounding all the more bored for Anna’s enthusiasm.

“Not just any someone. Wyvern Corp, the leading company in all things aerospace engineering.”

 “And you thought it somehow made more sense to come to me than the authorities why…?”

“It’s not like I have enough proof, Robin! The guys at Wyvern are clever, I’ll give them that, but I won’t give up my plans. Not without a fight.”

“What could I possibly do, Anna?” Robin sighs. “I’m an ex-insurance investigator that’s living on welfare.”

“They steal my plans, I steal them back,” Anna says firmly.

“That doesn’t answer my question. I’m not a thief.”

“No, I’ve already got those. What I need is someone honest.”

“You have _what_?” Robin leans back, giving Anna a wary look.

“I want you to lead the team to steal my plans back.”

Robin splutters, glad for the counter to lean on.

“Finding willing people that steal for a living is easy, but I need someone I know—someone honest—to keep them in line. And it always helps that you’re a master at keeping three steps ahead of the competition.”

“Anna, you must realize how crazy this sounds. I don’t need to get caught up in this sort of thing. For old times’ sake I’ll pretend you didn’t just share some crazy illegal plan with me, but—”

“Robin, take a guess what insurance company covers Wyvern Corp.”

Robin feels her own heartbeat pick up, knowing all too well that Anna had known all along how Robin would react. Even knowing that, Robin couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Excellus Insurance would take one hell of a blow from Wyvern Corp’s loss,” Anna adds helpfully.

Robin pours herself another drink, hands shaking. She feels Anna watching her, already knowing every inch of the smug grin she’s wearing.

“It’s just stealing one set of plans? In and out?”

Anna deftly snatches the glass from in front of Robin and helps herself to its contents.

“In and out. That’s it.”

Anna sets the glass down before she holds out her hand. Robin eyes it for a few long moments before they shake, Anna’s grin only growing.

“Can’t wait for you to meet the team.”

 

* * *

 

“No.”

Anna does a double take as Robin immediately turns around. She sticks her foot in the way as Robin makes to open the door.

“You’re going to make us work with her?” one of the thieves asks incredulously, lollipop dancing over his tongue as he speaks, green eyes narrowing.

“I was starting to think you were smart when you left Excellus,” Robin hisses at Anna, attempting for privacy even though the other three present knew full well she is unhappy from body language alone. “Then you go and do this. All of my newfound respect for you—gone.”

“You have to admit these guys are good!” Anna speaks like she’s delivering a sales pitch. In this case, it wasn’t too far of a stretch. “You would know.”

“Yeah, I _would_. I was the one that saw them all put away.”

“Still kinda hurt about that!” the girl shouts over, face curled in a pout.

“Look, all of you,” Anna says, spreading her arms out like a zookeeper calming some antsy monkeys. “This is just one job. I’m sure you can all get along up until some tidy sums all find their way to your bank accounts.”

The thieves make some minor grumbles, but go silent.

“I’m not doing it for the money,” Robin relinquishes her hold on the doorknob.

“But it can’t hurt. I hear alcoholism is an expensive venture.”

Robin glares, but falls short of a rebuttal. Instead, she changes the subject.

“This isn’t going to work. I know these guys. Each one of them works alone.”

“Yeah, well money can inspire people to do an astounding number of things,” Anna grins.

Robin says nothing, waiting just long enough to make sure that Anna gets the message: “ _I am not impressed_.” She finally walks over to her three partners—or rather, charges—glancing them over as she recalls their backgrounds.

First, Lon’qu Wei: an ex-special forces operative turned mercenary that’s taken numerous jobs over the years, some less savory than others. At the time of his and Robin’s first meeting, he was working as a retrieval specialist. An attractive man, but so freaked out by women that Robin felt surprise in the fact that Anna had managed to get close enough to him to convince him to come in the first place. She must have sent him her rates on a paper airplane.

Next to Lon’qu—though still just past arm’s reach—is Nowi Kete. A young hacker and computer genius who likes to make trouble just for the fun of it. Their last meeting had come about from a little scheme in which she’d siphoned funds from numerous Excellus Insurance holdings. As formidable as her computer skills were, remaining inconspicuous was not another of her outstanding talents. In fact, she seemed to thrive on the attention. She grins at Robin watching her, twirling some loose strands of green hair that have escaped from her ponytail.

Standing beside Nowi, sucking on a lollipop, is Gaius. No known last name, and Robin almost suspected he didn’t know it himself. The man was a flat out kleptomaniac with a penchant for sweets. As crazy as he seems, she’d never seen a better cat burglar.

Even with all of their skills, none were capable of giving Robin the slip. She has no doubt in the slightest that there are hard feelings. Eyeing them as warily as they eye her, Anna slips a manila envelope over.

“This is all the info I’ve got on Wyvern Corp’s security system. Send me the plans when you’ve got them, and you’ll see your pay shortly after. Good luck!”

Anna waves before turning sharply on her heel and jogging out the door. Robin decides to read the contents of the envelope before the awkward silence can get to her.

“So, Miss High and Mighty decided to step off her perch to get down in the mud with the rest of us thieves?” Gaius drawls, flicking his lollipop stick into the trashcan.

“I’m just doing this to help a friend,” Robin says evenly, leaving out the part where revenge proved to be a strong motivator.

“This isn’t some sort of trick where you try to get us caught in the act then turn us over, is it?” Nowi says, cheeks puffed out in another childish pout.

“I’m not an investigator anymore, insurance or otherwise,” Robin returns, tossing a page of blueprints over to Gaius, who nearly fumbles them in his surprise. “The layout looks pretty basic. There’s nothing too high tech in terms of security. Kind of strange to not have better guard over plans as game changing as Anna claims.”

“Could be a case of hiding in plain sight,” Gaius replies, eyes flicking back and forth over the building blueprints like a typewriter.

“Perhaps,” Robin steps forward slowly. “Well then, shall we get started?”

 

* * *

 

“Can you hear me alright? I’m talking to you, Lon’qu!” Nowi chirps over the intercom.

“There’s no need to shout,” Lon’qu grumbles. Robin can hear him grinding his teeth. “I am right next to you.”

“I just need to make sure!” Nowi replies. “You wouldn’t let me show you the proper way to put it in.”

“I don’t need you touching me.”

“Guys, focus.” Robin rolls her eyes. “Is everyone in position?”

“Yep!” Nowi is practically singing with excitement.

“Alright, get ready to go on my count,” Robin’s eyes narrow as she stares at the electronic layout of the Wyvern Corp building in front of her. Though she directs the team from the safety of an empty office room a building over, her heart beats as thunderously as if she were leading the charge herself. She glances out the window at the building about to be assailed, looking up to the roof as if she can see the three thieves right in front of her. “And _no_ freelancing.”

“Perish the thought,” Gaius quips, hooking himself into the safety harness.

“But what if find a really shiny diamond just _sitting_ there alone in a—”

“Nowi,” Robin growls warningly.

“Oh, fine,” she huffs.

“Okay, Gaius, start rappelling down on five—” Robin cuts herself off with a flinch as Gaius immediately leaps from the top of the building. She whips her binoculars up, just barely catching a dark shape free falling before coming to a stop precisely at the right window. He’s laughing to himself, obviously thrilled.

“Already done,” he says, a grin still in his voice.

“You better hope to the gods no one else happened to be looking,” Robin mutters, although she knows his dark clothes paired with the late hour make it unlikely anyone would notice unless they were specifically looking for him.

“The vibration detectors are on,” Gaius notes as he dangles in his harness, choosing to ignore Robin’s griping.

“Just go nice and easy,” Robin instructs.

“Easy for you to say,” Gaius snarks, though he is already at work applying the heated torch to cut his way in.

“You guys know where to be,” Robin adds for the benefit of Lon’qu and Nowi, but she can already hear them going in through the service exit, finding their way to the elevator shaft.

While Nowi hums under her breath, Robin takes a few steps away from the computer screen to better watch Gaius at work. With his new hole finally cut, Gaius uses suction cups to carefully remove the circle of glass. Robin cringes as he throws it over his shoulder, but there’s no time to berate him as he slips through the opening with catlike grace.

“You’ll be taking your left,” Robin says instead, moving back to the computer in anticipation of the action about to come its way.

“Already got it,” Gaius returns. “We’ve gone over this plan twenty times already. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had no faith in us.”

“Perish the thought,” Robin says at once. Gaius snorts in response.

“How much longer, Gaius?” Lon’qu says suddenly. Robin takes that to mean they’re in position atop the elevator.

There’s immediately a rumble that Robin picks up through the com. Lon’qu’s and Nowi’s breathing both catches for an instant when the elevator they’re standing on starts its descent.

“We’re on the way!” Nowi reports.

Robin simply nods, even with no way of them seeing her. Gaius must still be setting up the equipment in the maintenance room.

“Do you have eyes on security, Gaius?”

“Yeah,” Gaius says after a pause, the grin in his voice again. Finally, a new image flickers on Robin’s computer as Gaius sends her the backdoor into the system. “Looks like another typical, boring night for them.”

“Good,” Robin nods, her mind already analyzing the new information as she pulls up more data from Wyvern Corp’s security system. “Let’s keep it that way.”

“Door’s open,” Gaius says to the other two as the elevator settles down.

Lon’qu and Nowi clamber down into the elevator car before jogging out into the basement, Nowi already pulling a keycard out of her pocket in preparation for the locked door. She already has it attached to her phone by a cord to start hacking the keypad once they arrive. She immediately gets to work, Lon’qu standing by impatiently.

“Gaius,” Robin frowns as she stares at her screen, “are you getting chatter on any of their frequencies?”

“No…?” Gaius says, suddenly uncertain. “Are you seeing something I don’t?”

“There’s eight on the duty roster, and I only see four at their post.”

“Is this going to be a problem?” Lon’qu cuts in.

“Not sure yet,” Robin replies. “Just give me a second. Gaius, can you get me the cameras?”

“On it.” Gaius is at it for a few long moments before Robin sees the new camera feeds.

“Okay, Lon’qu, this might actually be a problem,” Robin grimaces. “We’ve got four guards making their rounds early.”

“But why?” Nowi looks up from her phone, panic edging into her voice. “I thought we did all this planning to avoid this!”

“Less talking, more hacking,” Lon’qu grunts.

“Please, my phone’s doing most of the work anyway,” Nowi retorts, sticking out her tongue.

“Play offs,” Robin hits her forehead lightly with the palm of her hand. “They’re doing the rounds early so that they can catch the game.”

“Who would’ve even thought of that?” Nowi mutters with just a hint of admiration in her voice.

“That doesn’t really help us right now,” Gaius hisses.

Robin can only watch silently as the guards notice locked doors open when they should be closed. Gaius makes a displeased noise as they immediately began rushing straight towards Lon’qu and Nowi’s direction, speaking hurriedly to each other.

“Do we pull out?” Lon’qu asks, sounding far more calm than Robin feels.

“No,” Robin says at once, smothering her own concern with detached logic and backup plans. “We’re getting this done tonight. Gaius, cut off their communication. We can’t have them calling in for any backup.”

“Done,” Gaius fiddles with a few wires, smiling as he watches the guards through the cameras cringing at the new grating screech over their radios. They all struggle for only a few seconds before they resort to turning them off. Robin spares a moment to observe the guard post to see the other four guards are quick to do the same, not wanting any distraction from the ball game they already have up on one of their security screens.

“Okay, Lon’qu. They’re still coming your way. Clear them out. Use Nowi for bait if you have to.”

“Got it,” Lon’qu runs off immediately as Nowi makes a noise somewhere between a gasp and a choke.

“Why do I have to be bait?”

“Don’t worry, Nowi,” Robin crosses her arms, still watching the security cameras like a hawk as she tracks the guards’ progress. “They’re not going to get the chance to touch you.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better!” Nowi wails, holding her phone up to her face and shaking it. “Come on, baby, work faster!”

“Freeze!”

Nowi drops her phone at the new voice from outside of her com, slowly turning to face four angry guards with her hands up. Her phone dangles sadly from the cord connecting it to the door’s keypad.

“Get away from there! _Slowly_ ,” the first guard commands, gun pointed straight at her. Nowi glances at her phone, but it’s still in the middle of cracking the code.

“Aw, boo.”

She pauses with a look of confusion as Lon’qu suddenly appears from behind the guards. The one with the gun pointed at her doesn’t get a chance to ask about the weird look before one of his fellows behind him gets a strong hit to the back of the head and crumples to the floor. The other two fumble with the guns at their belts, but one doesn’t get the chance to get it out of the holster before Lon’qu judo flips him over a yard away.

The first guard whips around, trying to get a clear shot as Lon’qu grapples with the only other guard standing. Three punches in quick succession, then a kick sends the guard hurtling into the one trying to take aim. Though those two are knocked off their feet, the guard he’d flipped before tries to turn the tide by pointing his gun at Lon’qu while his back is turned. Instead, Lon’qu spins around, disarming him then following up with a punch to the face that knocks him out cold.

He turns around to face Nowi, who’d taken cover on the floor during the confusion. In smooth motions, he releases the magazine then throws it at the forehead of the last conscious guard, who to his credit still refuses to give up and was raising his gun in a last ditch effort. His head slumps and his gun falls slack in his hand.

“So _that’s_ what you do,” Nowi gives a low whistle of appreciation, rising from her crouched position with her phone in her hand. “Janaff did his job too.”

“Who?” Lon’qu looks confused for only a moment before he goes for annoyed disbelief at the realization.

“I named my phone Janaff!” Nowi supplies even though he’s already caught on.

“Of course,” Lon’qu grumbles. “Move it.”

Nowi leads the way through the newly opened door smiling like a kid in a candy store.

“Are you guys in?” Robin presses, pacing the floor.

“Oh, we’re in alright,” Nowi gushes. “This is like the nerve center of their entire system. And it’s so old school! Just look at this old motherboard!”

“You know what you’re here to do,” Robin instructs.

Nowi makes a little “mm hmm” then goes straight to work, inserting her USB into the nearest port and pulling up the files.

“Alright, you’ve got it,” Lon’qu grunts, already making for the exit. “Let’s go.”

“Not yet. Computers automatically make multiple copies of everything stored in the system. I’m not leaving these crooks with even a crumb.” Nowi hits the last key with an air of finality. “All done, Boss Lady!”

“Okay, leave the spike.”

“Okay!” Nowi returns with infinitely more cheer. “Do your job, babies!”

“What was that?” Lon’qu asks as the mainframe goes dark in seconds. “A virus?”

“Not just one. Babies, plural!”

Lon’qu and Nowi are walking out as Gaius’s voice comes in over the coms.

“Houston, we have a problem.”

“What do you mean?” Robin frowns.

“Those guards from earlier reset all the security on the roof and upper floors. Probably to fix the extra radio noise.” There’s a crackle as Gaius opens a lollipop wrapper. “Going up’s going to be an issue.”

Lon’qu immediately starts walking away from Nowi.

“Hey, where are you going?” Nowi calls.

“Every man for himself,” Lon’qu returns flatly.

“Hey, I’m the one with the merchandise!” Nowi shakes her backpack.

“I’m the one with the exit,” Gaius cuts in bitingly.

“And I’m the one with the plan,” Robin speaks above them all. “Now listen up. I get that you children don’t play well together, but you’re going to need to deal with each other for exactly seven more minutes. Get to the elevator and head down. We’re going with the Burn Scam.”

Nowi and Lon’qu exchange quick glances before heading to the elevator, throwing their backpacks to the ground to dig in them for changes of clothes.

“Plan B then?” Lon’qu asks.

“Technically, this is G,” Robin returns matter-of-factly.

Lon’qu turns away while Nowi changes. She’s already switched from her black turtleneck to a cream blouse when Gaius meets them, stripping off his shirt with no shame.

“What’s got you so hot under the collar, Lon’qu?” he teases at Lon’qu’s tinged cheeks. Lon’qu grunts warningly.

“How many plans do you have?” Nowi asks, impressed.

“Yeah,” Gaius adds. “You have a plan F too?”

“Yes, but you wouldn’t like that one.”

“Why not?” Gaius snickers as the elevator starts going down.

“Gaius dies in plan F.”

“What?!”

“ _I_ like plan F,” Lon’qu says with a hint of amusement as he knots his tie.

“I’m ready, Gaius!” Nowi holds up the makeup bag as soon as his costume change is complete.

“You guys are going to meet a guard as soon as you walk out of that elevator,” Robin says, packing up her things. “I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

“That tickles,” Nowi whines, squirming under Gaius’s makeup brush.

“Hey, stop moving!”

Lon’qu wordlessly holds out the crutch as the elevator comes to a halt.

Robin was right. A guard walks over as they exit the elevator, Lon’qu first, then Gaius by Nowi’s side, Nowi sporting a leg brace, crutch, and a fake burn scar covering the right side of her face. The guard stares at them walking out, catching on Nowi as he finally attempts to speak.

“What are you—?”

“What are you staring at?” Lon’qu growls loudly, his whole body tense.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Nowi grimaces with every limped step, the three of them still making for the door.

“No, it’s not!” Lon’qu shouts. “Just keep staring, why don’t you?!”

“Oh gods, I’m sorry!” the guard’s eyes flick everywhere, shuffling awkwardly.

“Let’s just get you a car and bring you home,” Gaius says, his hand on Nowi’s arm as she groans theatrically.

Lon’qu shoves the door open forcefully, glaring daggers at the security guard. Robin is pulling up in her car as the three thieves walk unhindered out the front door. Nowi passes along her crutch to Gaius as she hops in the passenger seat.

Robin waits until they’re all in the car to drive away wordlessly.

 

* * *

 

“It’s done,” Nowi says with pride.

Robin had pulled up by a park the next city over, the dashboard clock reading past one o’clock in the morning when they’d all gathered together for Nowi to send the plans to Anna.

“Good,” Robin says, suddenly sounding very tired. “The money should be sent to all of your accounts later today.”

“Hey, can we talk about how awesome we were back there?” Nowi grins, looking around the circle. “We made a really good team!”

“Yeah, well don’t expect any encores,” Gaius brings his teeth down on the lollipop in his mouth with a crack.

“I agree,” Lon’qu adds.

“C’mon,” Nowi turns to Robin. “You guys have to admit it was nice being on the same side.”

“No, we are not on the same side,” Robin says immediately. “I am not a thief.”

“You are now,” Gaius grins. “Be honest. You didn’t have even a little bit of fun straying from the straight laced white knight?”

Robin stares at him for a long moment before turning away—as do they all, each heading their own way, the job finished. Considering she will never see them again, Robin thinks, it probably won’t hurt to admit it. Last night she had shrugged off the mantle of White Knight for Black King.

And she had enjoyed it.


	2. An Encore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had planned on no encores, but when does anything truly go according to plan?

Robin’s phone is ringing. One of those cheerful tunes that he had put on it ages ago that she hadn’t found it in her heart to change. The song is now nails in her skull thanks to her alcohol induced headache. She lazily reaches out her arm, nearly fumbling her phone before she brings it up to her ear.

“Yeah?”

“What the hell, Robin?!” Anna immediately starts freaking out. “You screwed me over! You screwed me over when I needed you most!”

“What are you talking about?” Robin frowns, slowly sitting up in her bed, Anna’s frenzied voice forcing her into wakefulness.

“The plans! They never reached me!”

“Anna, they were sent to you. I watched it happen myself.”

“Well you must have seen something else then, because _I don’t have them!_ ”

“I told you that you couldn’t trust them,” Robin rubs at her eyes.

“No, I trusted _you!_ That’s the whole reason you were there,” Anna’s voice goes cold. “I’m freezing all the transactions. None of you are getting paid.”

“Anna, calm down. We’re going to figure this out, okay? Just give me a few minutes and I’ll drive down to your office.”

“No!” Anna barks immediately. “No, we can’t do this here and now. There’s too many eyes and ears. My company has a quiet warehouse out of the way. I’ll text you the address. Be there in one hour!”

Anna hangs up, leaving Robin to stumble out of bed for a quick shower, a quicker breakfast, then more of a mess than she wanted to clean up at Anna’s quiet warehouse.

 

* * *

 

Anna wasn’t kidding when she’d said the warehouse was quiet. It rested in a nonresidential area with similar buildings and construction sites promising more of the same. It was completely abandoned, not even a single light on to guide the way. Robin wandered silently along, waiting for Anna to pop out of some corner with another harebrained scheme on how to steal her plans again.

Instead, she hears the voices of Nowi and Lon’qu.

“Look, I know you had to have done it,” Nowi sounds as angry as one can sound with such a childish voice. “You switched them around in the elevator on me.”

“I don’t like being accused of things I haven’t done,” Lon’qu sounds calmer, but Robin can hear the dangerous edge in his voice.

“No, I sent those plans. The only way she couldn’t have gotten them is if I didn’t have the right ones to send!”

Robin can finally see them. Nowi’s holding a gun.

“Hey!” Robin shouts immediately.

They both turn to look as Robin keeps walking over.

“It was you,” Lon’qu narrows his eyes, fists clenching like he’s itching to plant one between Robin’s eyes. “You’re the one playing both sides.”

“Please,” Robin rolls her eyes.

“And you look far too relaxed,” Lon’qu adds.

“And _you_ look too relaxed for someone with a gun pointed at him,” Robin retorts.

“The safety’s on.”

“No, it’s not!” Nowi snorts.

“No, he’s right,” Robin says.

“Really?” Nowi looks down just as Robin quickly snatches the gun away. “UGH. _Really_?”

“You’re not armed too, are you?” Robin looks to Lon’qu. His fingers twitch ever so slightly.

“I don’t like guns.”

They all look up at the sound of another gun being cocked. Gaius’s safety is off.

“There’s no money in my account. What’s going on?”

He looks around before lowering it.

“So it looks like we’re all here about being paid,” Robin reasons aloud, brain racing as she tries to discover the answer.

“This was supposed to be simple,” Gaius frowns. “Do the job, walk away, funds transferred to my account.”

“None of us were paid…” Robin continues.

“Yeah, I think we covered that,” Nowi pouts.

Robin starts chuckling, laughing even harder at their bitter expressions.

“We’re all pissed off!” she laughs, watching their expressions grow more annoyed. “All because we didn’t get paid! Being pissed off is plenty of motivation to come back. All of us. All in one place. In this abandoned warehouse. No nearby witnesses.”

Robin is no longer laughing. The others look at her with growing horror.

“There’s a bomb?!” Nowi cries.

Robin runs for the exit, the other three right behind her. Robin reaches the door first, throwing it open and looking back for them. Gaius whips past her. Nowi stumbles on the stairs, but Lon’qu immediately grabs the back of her jacket and practically flings her back to her feet. Once they’re all through the door, Robin follows. A second later, a massive explosion rocks the entire warehouse. Caught in the shockwave, Robin is knocked off her feet.

 

* * *

 

Robin’s eyes fly open suddenly like she’d never closed them, but her new surroundings refute the gap in her memory. The shockwave from the explosion must have—

Robin is shocked out of her thoughts as she goes to sit up in the bed she’s lying in only to be jerked back by a handcuff on her wrist tying her to the bed. She groans in frustration as she recognizes herself to be in a hospital bed.

“Don’t like hospitals, huh?” Gaius chuckles. He’s sitting in one of the bedside chairs in the corner, twirling another pair of handcuffs—that Robin can only assume he’d broken out of while she was unconscious—around one finger.

“Not much,” Robin replies.

“Oh, so you’re awake,” Nowi’s voice floats from somewhere above her. Robin glances up and sees a vent on the wall up near the ceiling between their rooms. “The cops and firemen got there just as we were waking up.”

“Where are we?” Robin’s mind is already racing with possibilities.

“County hospital,” Lon’qu supplies from the vent. “It was local police responding to the explosion.”

“Have we been processed?” Robin holds out her hands, grimacing at the ink covering her fingertips.

“Our prints were sent to the state,” Lon’qu confirms.

“If they run our prints we’re screwed,” Gaius leans forward in his seat, resting his handcuffs on the armrest.

“How long do we have?” Robin asks.

“I’d say about thirty minutes, give or take,” Nowi muses from the other room. “Depends on what they’ve got for a system.”

“They printed us twenty minutes ago,” Lon’qu clarifies.

“So unless we get out of here in the next ten minutes we’re all going to jail,” Gaius smiles bitterly.

“Yeah, okay,” Robin waves Gaius off with her free hand, brow furrowed. She needs to think.

“I can take on these cops,” Lon’qu says.

“Oh no you don’t,” Gaius bites back. “You kill anyone and you screw my getaway.”

“Gaius,” Robin says forcefully. “I need you to get me a phone.” She continues despite Gaius’s incredulous look. “Look, we’re going to get out of here, and we’re going to do it together.”

“Together,” Lon’qu scoffs.

“No encores, remember?” Gaius stretches out his arms.

“Look, here’s your problem,” Robin sighs. “You all know what you can do individually. I know what _all_ of you can do. That gives _me_ the edge because it gives me the plan.”

“I don’t trust these guys,” Lon’qu says suddenly. Robin pauses, biting her lip.

“Do you trust me?”

She’s met with silence until Gaius shifts in his seat. For once he looks serious, his face softer somehow.

“Of course we do. You’re the one honest person here. We can always trust you to be that.”

Robin smiles at him.

“Gaius, I’m going to need that phone.”

“Okay, but you’re not gonna like it.”

“Why not?”

“I’m gonna make myself throw up.”

“Oh gods,” Robin cringed as Gaius painted the floor.

In short order, the nurses have him resting in the other bed, taking his pulse and temperature as a state trooper watches over the proceedings looking thoroughly bored.

“Could be symptoms of a concussion,” one of the two nurses muses. “If you feel any more nausea, dizziness, or shortness of breath, just let the officer know.”

Gaius nods weakly, giving her a small, sickly little smile. Robin has to admit, he’s quite the actor. The officer steps over to snap the handcuffs back into place as the nurses walk away, following them out as soon as his deed is done. Robin watches expectantly as Gaius sits back up. He holds up a phone. Robin grins as she holds up another she’d pilfered from the nurse standing close to her own bed, everyone distracted by Gaius’s act.

“Ooh, nice one, Bubbles.”

Gaius holds up both hands, handcuffs left attached to the bed. A twirl of his hand and the key is shimmied out from up his sleeve. He tosses them over. Robin quickly unlocks herself before standing up in her bed to reach the vent.

“Nowi,” she whispers, sliding the extra phone through, then the keys. “Okay, guys. The trick is to give them what they want. They’re expecting a phone call, right? Lon’qu, I’ll leave that to you. Gaius, we’ll need a picture of you on that phone. Nowi, here’s what you need to do…”

 

* * *

 

“There’s an outside call for you on line two.”

The state trooper glances up at the nurse. She nods in the direction of the desk before bustling off to more work.

“This is Deputy Burns.”

“This is Detective Lieutenant Rutger with Illinois State Police,” Lon’qu says, sounding the part of the perfect policeman. “We got the prints that you sent us, but they’ve sent up some red flags. I’ve got somebody on the phone for you from the FBI. Can you hold?”

“Yes, sir,” the deputy replies almost boyishly in his excitement.

“I’ve got it through,” Nowi stage whispers through the vent as she sneaks the phone over to Robin’s waiting hands.

“Ah yes, Deputy Burns,” Robin says smoothly. “This is Deputy Director Jergen, FBI. Tell me, is our man alright?”

“Uh, I’m sorry, I don’t follow—”

“Deputy, listen to me,” Robin sighs. “The man you have inside there is ours. He’s been in deep cover for three years.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“As the grave. You should be receiving a fax any moment now confirming what I’m telling you.”

Robin smiles as she faintly hears the shuffle of paper from the other side of the line and the officer’s breath catching for an instant.

“What I’ve just told you is classified information. I need to know I can trust you, Deputy. Can I?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the deputy says with all due reverence.

In short order, Gaius is sporting a grin as he escorts Lon’qu into the vehicle the deputies provided, Nowi already in the back with Robin riding shotgun. Closing the door, he turns to the two deputies and salutes.

“Thank you, gentleman. It makes my heart weep tears of joy, seeing what you men do.”

“Thank you, sir!” Deputy Burns returns.

Gaius wastes little time in hopping into the driver’s seat and driving off as one of the nurses appears at the door.

“There’s a call for you,” she says pleasantly. “The state police.”

The two deputies look around in confusion before rushing back inside.

 

* * *

 

“Alright-y!” Nowi claps her hands together before pulling her phone out of her pocket as they walk into an apartment with a view over the city. “Just give me a few seconds and we’ll have four first class tickets far away from here.”

“This is a nice place,” Gaius whistles.

“Thanks!” Nowi replies. “It’s mine.”

“Anna’s going to pay for this,” Lon’qu says in a low voice. Robin can feel goosebumps raising on the back of her arms from his thinly veiled ferocity.

“You’re not going to get the chance for any payback,” Nowi snorts, the only one seemingly not affected by Lon’qu’s intimidating aura. “She knows what we look like.”

“She tried to kill us,” Lon’qu growls.

“More importantly, she didn’t pay us,” Gaius inserts.

“That is not more important,” Lon’qu frowns.

“Guys, take a look,” Nowi calls over from her table, having turned on her computer during the conversation. They all perk up at once upon seeing Anna’s face on the screen. “Anna was _mostly_ telling the truth. She is the vice president of Levin Company, one of the main rivals of Wyvern, but check out what my babies found.”

 Nowi opens up another window and starts the video—a news report with a representative of Wyvern Corp.

“We’ve lost research that we’ve been developing for over five years,” he says grimly. “There was a breach where our servers were sabotaged. We are doing all we can to pursue this person or persons to the full extent of the law with all resources at our disposal.”

“This could just be a cover story,” Robin says, having drifted over to stand right behind Nowi.

“I don’t know,” Nowi scrolls down. “The date stamps check out. I looked down through the files, and it matches.”

“So what are you saying?” Gaius says, eyes narrowed. “We weren’t stealing them back?”

“We were just stealing them,” Lon’qu says, his eyes closed.

“Why would Anna lie to us?” Nowi spreads out her arms in disbelief as she spins around in her chair.

“Because you’re thieves,” Robin says. “Anna Levin is clever. She knew if she hired you for a straight up theft you would all know she’s just as much a bad guy as all of you. Then you wouldn’t trust her. No, this way she’s just a poor citizen in over her head. That’s why you didn’t see this double cross coming.”

“Then why didn’t _you_ see it coming?” Nowi pouts.

“Because I’m not a thief,” Robin says simply.

“Maybe that’s your problem,” Gaius takes a few steps forward. Robin remembers suddenly how dangerous all three of the thieves are.

“Okay!” thankfully Nowi bursts up from her chair as her printer starts sliding out tickets. “I’ve got four tickets, all different locations and matched to the IDs you’ve given me.”

“So you’re running,” Robin crosses her arms.

“You got a better idea?” Lon’qu gives Robin the stink eye.

“You’re running,” Robin says again, turning to Nowi’s computer to look eye to eye with Anna’s picture on the screen. “Oh, that was high risk play, old friend. You’ve always kept an eye fixed on the stocks and now with a shareholder meeting coming up… We can’t give her any chance to cool down.”

“You want to run a game on her?” Gaius asks incredulously.

“Of course,” Robin turns around to look incredulously back at him. “How do you think I’ve gotten most of my stolen merchandise back before? Anna’s greedy and she thinks she’s smart. You couldn’t ask for a better mark.”

The stand for a few long moments, the three thieves and Robin watching each other. A smile slowly grows on Gaius’s face.

“She _does_ think she took care of us.”

“We’d have the element of surprise,” Nowi adds with growing excitement.

The two of them turn to Lon’qu, standing with his eyes closed and arms crossed. He slowly opens them and looks to Robin.

“What’s in it for me?”

“Payback. And if everything goes well, a whole lot of money.”

“What’s in it for _me_?” Gaius steps forward.

“Money. And if everything goes well, I’ll buy you a few lollipops with my share.”

Gaius grins.

“What about you, Nowi?” Robin asks.

“Well, I was just gonna flood her with spam emails and prank calls, but sure! This is better!”

“Hey,” Gaius nods at Robin. “What’s in it for you?”

Robin goes silent, feeling her fists clench of their own accord. Anger bubbles in the back of her throat as she replies.

“She used my son.”

 

* * *

 

“Why are we here?” Lon’qu whispers furiously, not much happier when he has to lean so close to Robin to be properly heard.

“We’re here to get Olivia,” Robin replies simply, sitting with the others in the back row of a tiny theater. No other audience members are present.

“You’ve got to be joking,” Gaius grimaces. “That one little part with dancing was good, I admit. But I wouldn’t call this acting by any stretch of the imagination. How can she help us? Distract Anna with a tap dancing routine?”

A pink haired woman—who Robin had pointed out as Olivia—stood center stage as she and another man bowed. Any confidence she had shown while dancing was gone completely the moment her feet stopped.

“I don’t get it,” Nowi says bluntly. “She doesn’t look like an actor.”

“That’s because this isn’t her stage.”

Robin smiles mysteriously at the curious looks she receives as they wait for the curtain to finally draw closed. Once it has, Robin leads the others back outside to wait in the alley outside the back door. Lon’qu tenses noticeably when Olivia at last walks out, digging through her purse.

“I vote no,” Lon’qu whispers furiously.

“No,” Robin holds out her hand to placate him. “Nowi was right. Anna knows us. We need a fresh face.”

Olivia settles the strap of her purse on her shoulder and turns to leave when Robin walks up slowly, clapping her hands. Olivia nearly jumps in the air, blood already rushing to her face in a preemptive blush. Her eyes widen in realization when she sees who’s applauding her.

“You were great, Olivia.”

“Y-you seem to b-be the only one who thinks so,” Olivia returns, but a shy smile finds its way to her face. They share a long look before Olivia continues. “I-I’m just a normal citizen now. No more bad stuff. C-completely honest.”

Robin half grins. “I’m not.”

Olivia breathes in sharply, eyes scanning Robin’s face for a catch. Eventually her gaze slides over Robin’s shoulder, noting the three figures waiting by the car.

“I always thought you had it in you,” Olivia says, confident and direct in the way that Robin knew meant she was speaking from the heart.

“So,” Robin pauses, unsure how to receive Olivia’s statement. “Are you in then?”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Olivia says in her pleasant, soft spoken way.

“Alright,” Robin turns on her heel, walking to the car where the others wait, Olivia following behind her. “Let’s go break the law one more time.”


	3. Setting the Board

Nowi leans back into the couch in Robin’s apartment. She’d made quick work of compiling a bio of their new target and hooked Robin’s computer up to her television screen. She clicks through pictures with the remote as she speaks.

“Anna Levin, vice-president of Levin Co. under one of her sisters and directly in charge of their new technology development. The one that’s been moving over to aerospace engineering. Comes from a rich family that has some weird obsession with the name Anna, got acceptance letters from top schools back in college…”

“I remember that,” Robin recalls from where she sits on the armrest of the couch, Olivia beside her taking notes with a pen sporting a healthy layer of cat stickers. Gaius settles down with popcorn in another chair, leaving Lon’qu the last one standing. “They had some weird thing about how all the women born into their family were Anna’s.”

“I-it used to be a b-bigger name,” Olivia notes, trying for small talk. “I c-can’t remember the last time I ran into one now.”

“I do. Regna Ferox,” Lon’qu says. “An old part of the city called Khadein.”

“O-on the border,” Olivia nearly squeaks from the nervousness of talking to someone new. Lon’qu looks equally uncomfortable being spoken to by yet another strange woman.

“Yeah,” Lon’qu looks anywhere but at Olivia, but Robin gets the impression he’s impressed she knows it.

“Anyway!” Nowi presses on. “As it turns out, the company’s got a hold of some nice big government contracts for their developing aerospace branch. _Department of Defense_ sort of contracts. It’s a big deal!”

“Is there any sort of opening there?” Robin’s hand finds its way to her chin as she thinks.

“I dunno,” Nowi shrugs. “Anna’s more focused on the commercial airline aspect. That’s specifically what the plans were for.”

“When you sent her those plans I know you weren’t supposed to make any copies,” Robin looks Nowi straight in the eyes.

“Yep! I promised her and everything, crossed my heart!”

“Show me the copies,” Robin says bluntly.

“Okay, boss!” Nowi laughs, pulling them up on the screen.

“It’s an airplane,” Gaius throws his hands up. “Woop-de-doo.”

“I thought it looked like one of those little ones for domestic flights,” Nowi adds, looking at Robin as she rises from the arm rest.

“You’re right,” Robin confirms. “Short-haul. Normally limited to one hour flights. It’s the fastest growing section of the industry. Very fuel efficient, high tech, titanium wrap, three to one…” Robin trails off at the interesting looks she receives at her in depth knowledge of commercial airliners. She shrugs off the memory. “What? You pick up things here and there.”

“You seem to pick up a lot of things, Bubbles,” Gaius notes as he digs out a bag of jelly beans from inside his coat pocket.

“Check this out,” Nowi presses a few buttons on the remote again, changing the screen. “Anna and Wyvern were head to head for five years trying to grab the lead in the industry.”

“So basically, Wyvern Corp got there first, and Anna took the shortcut,” Gaius speaks around a mouthful of unnaturally colored sugar.

“So she’s got a rival…” Robin starts pacing back and forth behind the couch. “And one that pissed her off enough for her to hire us to steal their designs. This is good.”

“Why?” Olivia asks, her voice gentle. “Y-you have something in m-mind, Robin?”

“I do, yeah. Feroxis. I think Feroxis will do nicely.”

Nodding to herself, Robin grabs her coat and walks to the door. Gaius, Nowi, and Lon’qu exchange glances before turning to Olivia for any apparent answer. She cowers for a moment under the three pairs of eyes before shrugging.

“S-she hasn’t changed a b-bit,” Olivia laughs nervously.

 

* * *

 

Anna power walks to her office, about to instruct her assistant to go find a latte before her assistant speaks up first.

“Your nine o’clock is here, Ms. Levin.”

“My nine o’clock…?” Anna pauses, looking over to see a lovely pink haired woman sitting in one of the chairs set to the side. She racks her brain trying to recall ever having arranged an appointment or mindlessly signing something that could have been permission for one. The pink haired woman stands as Anna runs a mental trip down memory lane.

“Ms. Levin,” her nine o’clock says smoothly, her Feroxi accent unmistakable. She holds out her hand with a business guard. “Feena Shin, Feroxi commercial transport and trade initiative.”

Anna snatches the card away, giving it a quick glance before tucking it away into an inner pocket of her suit coat.

“Are you with the government?” Anna makes it sound conversational.

“Oh, no,” Olivia says pleasantly. “A private business consortium.”

Anna nods before finally continuing her walk to her office, motioning for Olivia to follow. Nowi gives Robin a shocked look, but says nothing of Olivia’s shockingly stark acting transformation. Robin gives Nowi a sympathetic smile before looking pointedly at the computer.

“Yeah, I know,” Nowi pouts before whispering to her computer. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“We’re looking to encourage infrastructure development and economic renewal,” Olivia continues, so deep in character that she is hardly distracted by Nowi’s chatter.

“Okay, cool,” Anna settles down at her desk. “But I haven’t been caffeinated yet, so let’s cut to the chase.”

“We create jobs and trade in the Regna Ferox area. The goal is to keep stealing low and manageable.”

“Is this the same Olivia we were talking to earlier?” Gaius says over the coms, equal parts confused and impressed.

“This is her stage,” Robin replies with something nearly like pride. “Olivia Montoya does more than just dancing. She’s the finest performer you’ve ever seen… when she’s breaking the law.”

“Hey, a noble goal and I wish you luck, but I don’t think I can help you,” Anna pulls the business card back out from her blazer. “Managing thievery in Ferox? You’ve got a losing battle on your hands there.”

“Oh, come now,” Olivia chuckles confidently. “Let’s go and talk somewhere a little less formal.”

“Now?”

Olivia inclines her head towards the door before walking out, a confused Anna following in her wake. Robin holds out her hand, slowly counting down her fingers.

“Now,” she points to Nowi, who in a few keystrokes is into the assistant’s computer, flinging her a dreaded warning blue screen. They listen through the bug Olivia planted when she first arrived as the poor assistant groans.

“No, no, no, no, no,” she says rapidly, pressing at the keys before a heavy sigh and a light thump says she’s resting her head in her arms on the desk. She sighs again, reaching for the phone. Gaius gives a thumbs up as he hands the phone over to Lon’qu, careful not to jostle everything he’d been rewiring.

“Hello, I.T.,” Lon’qu says gruffly.

“We really need to work on your bedside manner,” Gaius teases before running off.

“Hi, this is Anna Levin’s office. My computer just completely crashed!”

“Oh no,” Lon’qu says unsympathetically. “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”

Nowi starts giggling, looking back at Robin.

“I told him to say that!”

“Good job…?” Robin says uncertainly.

“We’ve got someone on your floor to help you already,” Lon’qu says, no more charming to women even when on the phone.

“Thank you,” the assistant says, gladly hanging up. She looks up to see Gaius adjusting a pair of glasses, giving her a grin.

“Somebody call I.T.?”

Olivia starts speaking again as she and Anna walk side by side off the office building grounds.

“I represent a group of investors looking to start an airline for short-haul flights based in Regna Ferox.”

“Out of the old Longfort?” Anna asks innocently.

“She’s testing you,” Robin says at once. “You want the Aurelis district.”

“No, we’re keeping away from the hubs,” Olivia says passionately. “We’d like to revitalize regional airports. Our main focus is really the Aurelis region.”

“Aurelis runways are a mess,” Anna agrees.

“We believe that new airplanes will make passengers much more comfortable while we renew old runways.”

“Wait a second there,” Anna pauses at the bottom of the stairs, causing Olivia to stop as well. “You didn’t say anything about airplanes.”

“Ms. Levin,” Olivia titters. “You and your chief engineer are scheduled to speak at your shareholder’s meeting.”

“You know an awful lot about my business,” Anna notes.

“What can I say? I’ve done my homework.”

“How do you fit through these things?” Lon’qu hisses while in the shafts running above Anna’s office. Gaius snorts with laughter, but quickly disguises it into clearing his throat as he continues to distract Anna’s assistant.

“Well, Lon’qu,” Robin says, “you wouldn’t have had to if you’d just been capable of distracting a woman for five minutes while Gaius does it.”

“Ah,” Lon’qu grunts grudgingly. “I don’t regret it.”

He drops down into Anna’s office at last as Gaius continues to take his sweet time talking the lady through reconnecting her computer to the network, Nowi pausing every so often to correct him. Lon’qu plugs a USB into the computer to begin pulling files, planting one of Nowi’s devices under the desk as he does so. He presses the button, nodding when the small red light comes on.

Once all is ready, Lon’qu heads back up through the vents, making a displeased noise as he does so. Whether it was due to the tight quarters or listening to Gaius’s heavy handed flirting was anyone’s guess.

“What did you say your name was?” Anna asks Olivia, amused. “Shin?”

“Feena,” Olivia corrects. Robin can see the charming smile as if they’re standing right in front of each other.

“Feena, then,” Anna amends pleasantly, the smell of a good deal raising her mood. “If we announce a new project, you’re free to order as many as you like. The more the merrier, I always say!”

“Applies to money, people, and massive amounts of explosives to kill said people,” Robin says dryly. “Either way, you’ve got her. You know what to do, Olivia.”

“We’d also like to build the planes ourselves to bring the jobs to Ferox,” Olivia says, voice tinged with excitement. “Build them and fly them in Ferox and the surrounding area, then sell the excess to the rest of the world.”

“That’s ambitious of you,” Anna says, a grin in her voice. “So you have the manufacturing facilities for this plan of yours?”

“Money can easily be raised to bring anything behind up to snuff,” Olivia says lightly. “The key is knowing for certain whether we’ll be getting the contracts.”

“Feena,” Anna pauses. “I can’t help you with that.”

“What?” Nowi gasps, leaning back in her chair. “All this work for nothing?”

“Just wait,” Robin says cautiously, lightly touching Nowi’s shoulder.

“I understand,” Olivia says, switching her previous sunny façade for a stony one.

“Look, I’ve got to be—”

“I’ll take it to Wyvern.”

This gets Anna’s attention.

“Wyvern,” she says bitingly. “Wyvern’s a good enough company, I guess. Go right on ahead. I don’t think _they_ can help you but—”

“Oh, but they actually _have_ a record of long term investments. _You_ don’t,” Olivia retorts, somehow managing to keep a straight face as Nowi cries “oh snap!” over the coms. “They’re not afraid of innovation. I really should have gone to them from the start. They’re probably the better fit for our project.”

“I see what you’re trying to do here,” Anna says condescendingly. “Manipulating me? Ha. Ha!”

“I should hope you’re seeing what I’m doing,” Olivia returns. “Hundreds of millions in new contracts, not to mention all of the good press for helping out poor souls in need, delivered right to you.”

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” Anna says. Robin notes the specific tone she takes when she’d pleased with herself. “I’ll do it. I’ll take that meeting of yours.”

“I’ll have my people call you,” Olivia says smoothly, then walks away.

“I look forward to conducting business with you,” Anna calls after her, waiting for a moment longer to watch the skyline.

 

* * *

 

“Robin,” Nowi calls, not taking her eyes off the computer screen. “I’ve gotten all of her financial information off the hard drive thanks to Lon’qu. And all of her passwords too. It’s kinda funny, most of them have something to do with money and dollar signs.”

“That’s just classic Anna,” Robin shrugs.

As she turns back around, she notices Lon’qu staring at her. He quickly looks away, silently feigning ignorance. Gaius just chuckles from where he’s sprawled out on Robin’s couch.

“Am I missing a joke?” Robin asks as she scoots Gaius’s feet over to make room to sit down.

“Lon’qu was just telling me earlier that you look different.”

“Huh?” Robin says rather intelligently.

“Since we’ve started this whole… whatever it is,” Gaius waves his hands vaguely. “Now that he mentions it, I kinda see it too. You look better.”

Robin sighs, then feels the urge to do it again when Gaius grins at her reaction.

“What, you’re not happy about it?”

“This isn’t supposed to feel good,” Robin replies.

“Why not?” Gaius shrugs. “Anna screwed you over. She also cheated off of that other company and who knows how many others before that. She’s one of your bad guys. And by taking her out, that lets you be the good guy again.”

“Are you done?” Robin gives Gaius a stern glance to suggest his little mind games are done.

“You know we’re all sorry about your kid,” he says with a great more care than usual.

“None of you know anything about that,” Robin says at once.

“Sure we do,” Gaius snorts. “Someone like you steps out of the game, a lot of people are bound to notice. I don’t know how much is true, but what got passed around wasn’t a happy story.”

“That’s because it wasn’t happy,” Robin stands up and walks over to her cabinet. Olivia shuffles over as she does so, back to her usual self.

“Um, R-Robin?” she says quietly. “C-can you h-help me with this earpiece?”

“You know, Nowi’s probably the one to go to with that,” Robin replies, still tense from her conversation with Gaius, who she feels watching her from the corner of her eye.

“W-well, I w-would but I still don’t really… know them too well,” Olivia’s cheeks tinge pink as she casts her eyes to the ground.

“You were really cool today!” Nowi says suddenly from behind Olivia. Poor Olivia nearly jumps three feet in the air in response. “I still don’t get how you did it, but you sure did!”

“W-well, it’s…” Olivia takes a couple healthy steps back to put some distance between her and Nowi. “It’s… Y-you know what I’m like. When I dance, i-it’s just me focusing and losing myself to the music. Taking on another persona is losing myself to another sort of music.”

“Then why were you so horri—”

“Nowi,” Robin says pointedly. It takes a long few seconds of loaded stares before Nowi catches the hint and plops back down in her wheeled chair to kick her way back over to the computer.

 

* * *

 

“Croissant?”

Robin brings her newspaper down to see Nowi stuffing her face with breakfast as they sit outside a café. She is immediately aware of the shiny black car that pulls up to the impressive office building the café sits across from. Anna steps out, looking back to say something to the driver before walking up to the doors as the car drives off.

“Olivia,” Robin says, all business. “Anna’s here.”

“What?” Olivia gasps. “B-but I’m not ready!”

“Olivia, breathe,” Robin instructs. “We need to move things along. If you don’t go out to meet her she’s going to look for the office number at the building directory just to find out it’s an office that doesn’t exist.”

“Okay, I’m heading down,” Olivia takes a deep breath, regaining her sense of composure as she puts herself back in character.

“Just give me enough time to do what I have to,” Lon’qu reminds her sharply as he jogs up the stairs on a different floor.

“O-okay,” Olivia replies, hitting the elevator button again. Anxiety slips into her voice. “Robin, the elevator’s n-not working!”

“Damn,” Robin hisses, standing suddenly from the table outside.

“What are you doing?” Nowi asks, following Robin as she crosses the street.

“Distracting Anna,” Robin answers. “I’ll buy you some time. Gaius, get Olivia down to the lobby as fast as you can.”

“You’ve got it,” Gaius pops his head out of the door to the stairway. “Hey, Twinkletoes!”

Olivia looks over in confusion.

“Yeah, you,” Gaius motions her over. “This way.”

Olivia scurries over, nearly fumbling the harness that Gaius tosses to her.

“What’s this for?” she asks, too surprised for even her usual stuttering.

“The fastest way down.”

Gaius pulls Olivia onto one of the landings away from the door as Lon’qu rushes past them, a sign in hand. He doesn’t even spare them a glance as he continues on his way. Olivia squeaks as Gaius starts pulling her arms through the straps of the harness.

Outside, Nowi takes a few startled steps back as Robin produces a night stick out from the sleeve of her coat.

“How long have you had that?!”

“Do not replicate what you’re about to see at home,” Robin looks back at Nowi before slamming her weapon full force against the window of the nearest car.

She jogs down the sidewalk to do it to the next, then the next, each new siren stirring up more interest from all the surrounding buildings. Nowi, watching from a safe distance, sees the top of Anna’s red-haired head among others through the glass doors.

“This is only going to give you so long,” Robin reminds them over the blare of numerous sirens.

“It’ll be long enough,” Gaius says, snapping Olivia into the pulley suspended above the stairwell.

“We are _not_ going to drop the whole way!” Olivia gasps as she looks down the straight shoot to the first floor.

“Just hold on to me,” Gaius grins, clipping them in together before throwing the both of them down into empty space.

They all cringe as Olivia screams. Between that, the car sirens, and Lon’qu drilling the new sign into their door upstairs, Robin considers temporarily removing her earpiece for a moment to think. Thankfully, Gaius’s ride is over in seconds and he takes no longer in freeing Olivia of the harness.

“Go get her, tiger,” he claps Olivia on the back, sounding all too pleased with himself.

Olivia scurries out, straightening her clothes as she rushes to intercept Anna. Anna only just turns on the guest access to the office database when Olivia calls out to her.

“Oh, Feena!”

“So glad you could come, Ms. Levin,” Olivia snaps back into character, if somewhat breathlessly. “Our offices are up on the tenth floor.”

“Is everything alright?” Anna asks as they walk together to the elevators.

“Oh, j-just excited,” Olivia nearly trips over her words for a moment, still out of breath. She bites her lip as Gaius snickers over the com. “There is one thing you should know about the gentlemen bringing you this opportunity,” Olivia continues, regaining control of her breathing at last. “They’ll be expecting some… compensation.”

“Oh,” Anna says knowingly.

“Not a bribe, of course,” Olivia replies just so.

“Just a finder’s fee.”

“Exactly.”

Anna pauses, taken aback from the supposed frankness.

“I thought the goal was to eliminate graft and stealing.”

“No, the goal is to keep it manageable,” Olivia corrects.

They step out of the elevator together, walking shoulder to shoulder to the meeting arranged there. Olivia watches Anna take in the sign: _Feroxi Commercial Transport and Trade Initiative_. The name Feena Shin is even engraved below as the director. The table of Feroxi gentlemen all rise as the two women enter the room.

“Good morning, sirs,” Anna says pleasantly, looking around to get a feel for the room.

“Ms. Levin,” the man closest offers her a strong handshake. “We’re honored to have you here.”

“The honor’s mine,” Anna returns. “Getting in on the ground floor for something like this is the sort of opportunity I live for.”

“Now it’s all up to Anna,” Robin says, sitting comfortably outside the café again, having circled safely around after her car damaging spree. She even spares a smile for Gaius as he joins her and Nowi at the table, leaning over to help himself to Nowi’s extra croissant. “Nice job on the zip line there.”

“Thought I might lose my hearing for a second,” Gaius jokes. “Not bad for her first time actually.”

“And she’s closing it up right now,” Robin holds up a hand to signal for silence as they all focus on the conversation taking place on the tenth floor.

“Yes,” one of the Feroxi gentlemen says with business like charm. “We can definitely repurpose the factories.”

“Cha ching…” Anna whispers excitedly.

“It sounds like we’re going to be doing a lot of business together,” he continues.

“Pardon me,” Olivia cuts in. “But about that other matter?”

“Of course,” he replies. He reaches into his suitcoat, bringing out a closed envelope that Olivia walks over to receive. Anna watches with curiosity as Olivia slowly walks back to hand the envelope over. Dollar signs nearly appear in her eyes as she opens the envelope and spies the sum written inside.

“Is that agreeable?” Olivia asks sweetly as Anna struggles to tear her eyes away from the fee of one million dollars.

“Oh,” Anna says with something like a shiver going through her voice as she works out the multiplications in her mind. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

“Splendid,” Olivia says as they all rise from their seats. She escorts Anna back outside where they shake hands before Anna steps into her car, the driver spiriting her away at once. Olivia watches the car drive out of sight as Robin and the others walk out of the office complex.

“Nice job, Liv,” Robin says, patting Olivia’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Olivia replies, back to her bashful self.

“This is our cue to go,” Robin looks off into the distance where Anna drove off. “We’ve got our work cut out for us tomorrow.”

“This is going to work?” Lon’qu cuts in as they walk away as a group.

“Of course,” Robin replies, looking at Gaius out of the corner of her eye. “You’d think you guys didn’t have any faith in me.”

Gaius snickers in return as he produces another chocolate filled croissant from out of one of his pockets.

“Hey, do you have any more in there?” Nowi says at once, reaching both arms out to get at the pocket of his sweatshirt.

“Nope,” Gaius says, keeping her at bay with one arm, his hand firmly on her forehead. She makes grabbing motions unsuccessfully as Gaius keeps her just out of reach. Olivia giggles at their shenanigans, and Robin almost thinks she sees Lon’qu smirking.

 

* * *

 

“This seems risky, ma’am,” Anna’s secretary whispers hurriedly as Anna shuts the door to her office soundly behind them. “You already stole those plans, I just almost think that…” She trails off as Anna drops to the ground by her desk and pokes her head under it, digging her phone out of her pocket as she does so. “Ms. Levin, what are you doing?”

“Ah,” Anna says as she directs the light from her phone onto the listening device under her desk.

The secretary crouches down beside her, gasping at the device. Anna claps a hand over her mouth and ushers her back outside, again closing the office door.

“What is that?” the secretary asks in horror, as if she suspects it’s a bomb.

“Transmitter,” Anna growls. “They’ve been listening to everything I’ve been saying.”

“They…?”

“Who do you think?” Anna holds up her phone, a picture on the screen that one of her agents had texted earlier. The secretary looks in confusion at the blurry photo of Robin and Olivia talking to each other.

“I don’t—”

“Also, I checked before I left,” Anna continues with no small amount of smugness. “There is no office for a Feroxi Commercial Trade Initiative anywhere in the city. They’re trying to hustle me, and I know exactly what they’re doing. Now I’m going to put a stop to it.”

“What are you going to do, Ms. Levin?”

“Get the FBI on the phone,” Anna orders.


	4. Checkmate

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Anna rolls her eyes as her secretary nervously wrings her hands.

“It’s very simple,” Anna says, only growing more jumpy as she speaks. “Yeah, I’ve ticked them off and they want to get back at me, but still, this is just sloppy. Such a _great opportunity_ the same week as my shareholder’s meeting? And then the bug, the fake offices, the cash bribe, and Feroxis? Bloody _Feroxis_? Like one of those ridiculous email scams about Feroxi bank fraud or something!”

Anna pauses to take a quick sip of her cappuccino before she continues, more worked up than her secretary has ever seen her. “Who do they take me for? I am no fool! And not a dog dragged around on a leash either! All that alcohol must have made Robin forgetful. I’m going to remind them that it is _Anna_ they’re dealing with!”

“Yes, Ms. Levin,” Anna’s secretary says meekly.

 

* * *

 

Anna laughs with the others as they make a toast to such a successful meeting. She looks back to send her secretary a wink before drinking her champagne. Even as Robin and her crew move out, Olivia meeting up with the Feroxis, Anna rests securely on her own plans. Most pressingly, the highly successful presentation she’d finished moments before pitching her new airplanes to the shareholders. One approaches as she turns her attention back to the catered dinner on the large balcony. 

“I would say this has been a good day for us all,” the shareholder says. “The stock’s gone up fifteen points since the announcement.”

“Oh?” Anna says knowingly, sipping at her champagne.

“You didn’t know? Perhaps I’ll pass it around.”

They both nod respectfully as he departs and Anna looks over the party.

“Don’t you look happy?” Olivia’s Feroxi accent drifts over. Anna slides on a smile.

“Does it show?”

“You have a horrible poker face.”

“Guilty as charged,” Anna laughs, more to herself than anyone. She looks over Olivia’s shoulder at the Feroxis who arrived with her, just as smartly dressed as before. “How about we get this business done?”

“Now?” Olivia says with surprise.

“You heard me,” Anna finishes off her champagne and sets it on the tray of a passing server.

“You have the payment then?” Olivia asks, sounding impressed.

“Yes. Let’s make this deal. It’s perfect timing for me to announce it now and get even bigger headlines.” Anna grins to herself as Olivia looks back, unsure for just a moment. “We can duck into a conference room for just a moment, away from all this. Let’s do it.”

“Alright,” Olivia says slowly, giving Anna the impression she’s been knocked off her script. “Just let me go tell them.”

Anna gives her secretary a thumbs up before Olivia comes back, the group of Feroxis in tow. Anna leads them inside, spreading out her arms as they walk into the conference room.

“Gentlemen, come in! Come in!” she says welcomingly. “Please, make yourselves comfortable!”

“Thank you,” the Feroxi who is clearly the head says as they all settle down around the long table. Anna remains standing at the head, hands on the back of the chair as she leans forward predatorily. “I take it we all understand the terms of this agreement?”

“I’ll tell you the exact terms of this agreement,” Anna presses a button on the table phone, leaning back with her arms crossed loosely over her chest. She watches with the utmost pride as more men enter the room.

“FBI,” the first agent to enter announces. “Don’t move.”

“Are you alright, sir?” another asks as a few more enter from the door on the other side of the room behind Anna.

“Yeah, I am,” the head Feroxi replies.

“What?” Anna says incredulously, jumping in alarm as the FBI agents behind her grab hold of her arms. “ _What_? What are you—wait a minute!” She shakes herself roughly from the agents’ grasps, pointing ahead blindly at Olivia and the Feroxis. “What are you looking at _me_ for? Your criminals are sitting right over there.”

A couple of the Feroxis raise their eyebrows. Anna looks around desperately before turning to the agents behind her.

“Look, I spoke with Special Agent Douglas. If you just get him on the phone he—”

“ _I’m_ Special Agent Douglas,” one of the agents she was speaking to holds up his badge. He continues as she gapes at him wordlessly. “Anna Levin, you are under arrest for soliciting a bribe from these Feroxi Government Officials.”

“But—” Anna stutters as the Feroxis all rise from their seats to exit the room. “I—I’m—you can’t—can’t just—they’re not even real Feroxis!”

“Of course we are,” the head Feroxi says angrily, holding up his own official identification. “Your woman knew that when she contacted us last week.”

“My…?” Anna looked around the room, noticing one person that was not present. “Feena?”

Everyone present exchanged looks with each other as Anna brought her hands to her face, letting out a deep breath. When she brought her hands back down, she gave the entire room a plastic smile.

“Special Agent Douglas, Feena Shin works for them.”

“That’s complete bull!” the Feroxi returned. “She contacted us on your behalf!”

“Said that she worked directly under you,” another Feroxi added.

_Olivia stepped forward, holding out her hand with a pleasant smile. Even better was her firm handshake. Any Feroxi worth his salt could tell a person’s integrity through the quality of their handshake._

_“Feena Shin,” she supplied them, her accent giving away she’d lived in the Feroxi province herself. “From Levin Company, directly under Anna Levin.”_

“But—” Anna’s hands gesticulate wordlessly as she tries to wrap her head around her present predicament. “No, I—She… she took me to their office!”

“No!” the Feroxi shouts again. “We don’t have any offices in this city!”

Douglas looks to Anna expectantly, looking like a person expecting to hear a ridiculous theory. Anna’s eyes light up as she starts filling in the blanks of Robin’s scheme.

“Exactly! You don’t have an office!”

“That’s why we met at _your_ other office,” the Feroxi says, sounding no more patient than he did before.

“ _My_ other…?”

_Lon’qu pulled the drill away, not even having time to admire his handiwork before the elevator dinged. He ducked out of sight as the Feroxis stepped out. They paused to look at the sign declaring the office space to belong to Anna Levin of Levin Co. with her senior assistant Feena Shin._

_Olivia stepped out of the office at once, shaking each of the men’s hands again._

_“Feena Shin, Levin Company.”_

Anna gulps, staring blankly ahead into space. She looked up suddenly as the rest of the room watched incredulously.

“The shareholders!” Anna exclaims, dashing out of the room back to the dinner party on the balcony, the Feroxis and FBI agents in hot pursuit.

The shareholders had all gathered by the edge of the balcony to look down. Police cars pull over, sirens blaring. FBI agents pile out, running over as numerous shareholders try questioning them about what’s going on. Anna dashes onto the scene in growing horror.

“No, no, no, no, no!” she calls, waving her arms around in an attempt to capture her guests’ attention. “Can I have your attention please?”

“Anna, what is going on?” a shareholder asks, frustrated.

“It’s no big deal, just a permit problem,” Anna waves him off. “It’s nothing, really. A simple misunderstanding!”

“Is anybody else here involved in the bribe?” Special Agent Douglas calls over her loudly.

“Bribe?!” the shareholder exclaims.

“There’s no bribe!” Anna says, trying to sound casual but failing.

“I handed this woman an envelope containing a cashier’s check for two hundred thousand dollars!” the Feroxi says pointedly.

“No! Oh, no, no!” Anna turns around on the Feroxi before turning back to the shareholders and Special Agent Douglas pleadingly. “There was no—I wasn’t handed any…” She stops, knowing all too well that ‘Feena Shin’ had handed over an envelope from the Feroxi the day before.

“This would have looked a lot better for you if you hadn’t deposited that check,” Special Agent Douglas says with all the weight of a judge. “Do you still have it?”

“No, of course not! I didn’t get a check! She—she must have switched envelopes or something!”

“Sir,” another agent steps up to stand beside Douglas. “We have people searching the lab now, seizing those files and computers.”

“Anna, there are _news reporters_ pulling up…” the shareholder says warningly.

“No, you can’t take my computer!” Anna cries as Douglas scoffs.

“This company has government defense contracts,” Douglas replies. “There’s rules concerning contact with foreign officials.”

“Okay,” Anna says hurriedly. “I think we’re all getting a little ahead of ourselves here! I’m just gonna—excuse me…”

Anna runs back inside as her assistants hurriedly shred all of the documents in view.

“Where do I put it?!” one shouts, a bin full of shredded paper clutched in his arms.

“Anywhere that’s not here!” the secretary cries.

He promptly empties it out the window as more FBI agents enter the building. Robin, Olivia, Gaius, Lon’qu, and Nowi—all appropriately dressed in FBI jackets—pass them by as they walk out, each holding a bin or two of documents to be seized. Gaius elbows Nowi to stop her from giggling. They load everything up in a van before driving off, leaving the FBI to their work and Anna to her disaster.

 

* * *

 

The shutters are drawn as a woman with long, raven hair stands at the window, hands clasped together behind her back. She turns slowly as Robin’s footsteps announce her arrival.

“I came alone as you requested,” she says.

“And I thank you for that, Say’ri.”

Robin comes to stand beside her at the window, holding a briefcase at her side.

“I’ve come to understand that your research at Wyvern was wiped clean. I have complete copies here on these hard drives along with proof that they were on Levin Company computers. That should be more than enough for a lawsuit or two, I’m sure.”

“I will see that we will drop all investigation into the incident surrounding the original theft,” Say’ri nods.

“That sounds fair to me, now that your property’s back.”

“There will be no charges,” Say’ri continues. “Nothing on you _or_ your people.”

Robin nods, then hands over the briefcase. She is walking off when Say’ri calls after her.

“You don’t want any money?”

“We’ve got money covered,” Robin says as she walks out the door.

 

* * *

 

“ _In a massive selloff sparked by multiple federal investigations of Levin Company, the stock plummeted a shocking thirty-three percent before trading was halted,_ ” the news station reports.

Anna watches with a foul expression in her office, slouched in her chair with only a couple agents left cleaning up and talking to her secretary outside. She mimics the anchorman’s voice as her cellphone begins buzzing. It rings a few times before she finally sighs and answers.

“Yeah,” she says numbly.

“You really should have just paid us,” Robin says matter-of-factly.

Anna immediately sits up straight, a thousand questions running through her mind.

“But I found your transmitter!” she exclaims, about to go on a tirade when Robin interrupts.

“No, you found the transmitter with the blinking light. We needed you to figure at least _part_ of it out. From there we just gave you what you expected.”

“You know who I am. There’s not a thing that can keep Anna down. I’m going to beat this.”

“Oh, but what about that little bribe thing going on?”

“Who cares about that? They can’t prove anything! Not when I didn’t get any money.”

“We’ve hit the jackpot,” one of the agents says from behind Anna, rifling through her desk. He pulls out a hidden box stuffed to the brim with cash. Anna pales as Robin continues.

“Oh, sure what we left you doesn’t account for all of it. Olivia kept a little to buy a staggering amount of dancing shoes. Apparently you need a different type for each discipline. Who knew, right?”

“Don’t forget our stop to the candy store!” Gaius adds, leaning over. Robin pushes his face away from the phone.

“What happens if I stick two lollipops in my mouth at once?” Nowi reaches over.

“Knock yourself out, kid,” Gaius hands her two.

“Anyway,” Robin says a little more loudly to talk over them, “if a company’s stock price drops ten, maybe fifteen percent, in just one day and you see it coming, you sell short and make a lot of money off of it. If it falls _thirty_ percent, well, let’s just say, you’re looking at sums so ridiculous you can fill swimming pools with them.” Anna makes a choked little noise on the phone. “So we didn’t need the FBI to take you to jail. We just needed them to show up and take boxes out of your office, day in, day out, in front of the entire world thanks to TV cameras. Scaring off potential investors, you know. At this point, you going to jail would be nothing more than a little bow on top of the Christmas present of your failure.

“Oh, and one more thing, Anna dear? Say anything about us to your new babysitters, and next time we won’t be so nice.”

Robin hangs up, allowing herself a self-satisfied grin. She looks around at the park they’d met at once before after the first job where they’d promised no sequels. Nowi, two lollipop sticks dangling from her mouth like walrus tusks, hands around envelopes. Olivia nearly stumbles when she opens hers up.

“Woah…” Robin manages as she looks at the funds transferred to her account, sure that somewhere along the line someone misplaced a few zeroes.

“Well, I was a little bored so I poked around in the London stock market too,” Nowi explains. Robin distinctly thinks how glad she is Nowi is on her side, because she could take the whole world down if she wanted to. “There was some overlapping.”

“This is the score of the century,” Gaius says with uncharacteristic reverence. “I could kiss you.”

Nowi waves a hand with fake bashfulness before pointing to her cheek. Gaius produces a bag of Hershey’s kisses from his backpack and shoves them at her. Nowi pouts, but can’t keep it up for long before dissolving into laughter.

“You were right,” Lon’qu says. He nods respectfully when Robin looks at him.

“You c-can always count on Robin to get the job done,” Olivia adds in her quiet little voice, hand still resting above her heart while the other clutches her envelope.

“So,” Nowi says, drawing out the vowel. “This is it, then? We never have to work a day in our lives with money like this!”

Robin takes a shaky breath, staring down again at her newfound fortune, nicely summed up on a folded piece of paper.

“It was a pleasure working with all of you,” she says.

To her surprise, the others all hesitate.

“A onetime deal,” Lon’qu says, as much to himself as everyone else.

“Yeah,” Gaius adds. “No encore. No sequel.”

“I-I’ve already forgotten w-who you all are,” Olivia says, an edge of emotion in her voice.

Robin nods once more and they all leave, going separate ways. Robin adjusts her jacket so it hugs her tighter, not looking back. She’s been walking for barely a minute when Nowi is jogging up to her.

“Okay, so I’ve never really had so much fun with a job like that before,” she says hurriedly.

“Nowi, we’re all walking away.”

“And I’ve always had a hard time focusing on just one thing but you really helped me stay on task and we really accomplished something!” Nowi presses on.

“I’m good at what I do,” Lon’qu is suddenly there, cutting in while poor Robin still attempts to keep walking away.

“Lon’qu, no.”

“It’s about all I do. Retiring isn’t an option for me, but I can admit I have my blind spots and—”

“You wanna know what I think, Bubbles?”

“Not really,” Robin says, doggedly trying to remain detached despite three people chasing after her.

“How long is it gonna be before you fall apart again, huh?”

“How thoughtful of you.”

“See, you can’t just drop everything,” Gaius throws his hands up, nearly hitting Nowi in the face. “Someone like you can’t just drop out of the game. You need something to keep your mind moving or you’re done!”

“I’m sure I can figure it out,” Robin says blankly, pausing as her phone rings. “Hello?”

The person on the other end doesn’t speak, but she doesn’t have to. Robin looks over to the bench ahead of them where Olivia sits staring right at her, phone up to her ear. Robin sighs, putting her phone back in her pocket as Olivia does the same. She walks over so that she’s standing in front of them, cheeks flushed red.

“Y-you’re the only real friend I have, y-you know.”

Robin looks guiltily off to the side before she gives in to Olivia’s sad face.

“I-it could work. You’d pick the jobs for us.”

“But that’s not what I do,” Robin says stubbornly. “My job is to help people… to take down bad guys.”

“I-is… is that not what we just did?” Olivia says, suddenly firm. “You can find more. You’re good at finding people. A-and bad guys have money, like what _we_ want.”

Robin sighs again, pinching the bridge of her nose. She stands at a crossroad, knowing that whichever path she takes does not come with the option of going back. She takes a few more steps forward, slow and measured so she can turn around to face them all.

“ _I_ pick the jobs.”

Olivia looks relieved as Nowi cheers, Gaius grins, and even Lon’qu cracks a smile. Robin wonders what her family would think.

Morgan would have loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the first job has now come to a close! Thank you so much to all of you who commented. You're all wonderful beyond words and one of the definite highlights of writing this! Be prepared for the appearance of the next job soon, where a few more familiar characters make an appearance... *wiggles fingers cryptically*


	5. Luna

A woman gasped for breath as she pushed her legs as fast as she could, tears leaving steady streams from the corners of her eyes. Smoke billowed out of the barn, the cries of the horses still inside cutting to her very heart. She tripped around the bend in the path, throwing her arms up just barely in time to protect her face from the dirt and gravel. Her friend shouted at her as she clambered back onto her feet, ignoring the new cuts on her arms and dashing straight into the smoke, pulling the bandana from her long, brown hair down to cover her nose and mouth.

The wood crackled from the flames, giving her just a moment’s warning to jump out of the way before one of the ceiling’s beams tumbled to the ground mere inches from her nose.

“Sumia!” her friend cried, but Sumia could barely hear her over the horses still trapped inside. She lurched forward to the nearest stall, throwing it open with the free hand not clutching the bandana to her face.

A hand grabbed onto her upper arm as she hurriedly led the horse out. She shrieked, sending herself into a fit of coughs. Her friend dragged her back out, the horse dashing ahead once he was free of his stall. Sumia made to run back once they were safely back on the path outside, but her friend’s hold didn’t waver. She finally released her grip when Sumia fell heavily to her knees.

“Oh gods, oh gods,” Sumia cried frantically, trying to spin back around. “No, no, no, no, they’re still in there!”

“Sumia, no!” her friend ordered, pulling Sumia to her chest.

“Cordelia, we can still save them!” Sumia choked out between coughs. She started crying anew when the horse she’d brought out whinnied desperately back at his fellows still in the barn.

The barn’s roof collapsed entirely.

 

* * *

 

Robin sits through Sumia’s story in silence, allowing the poor woman a moment to collect herself as she wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. Robin hands her a tissue, smiling weakly over to Stahl at the bar who attempts to casually observe the proceedings, but is clearly too concerned to do a good job of being discreet. Another woman with long red hair—Cordelia—who’d arrived with Sumia waits on one of the barstools, watching Robin skeptically. Though she’d made herself clear that she thought Robin to be leading some sort of scam, at Sumia’s insistence she allowed the two of them to talk, keeping an eye on the proceedings from outside the conversation with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

Robin finds her attention much more focused on Sumia though, looking over the pictures she’d brought with her. First she looks over a series of pictures of each horse, totaling ten in all. Sumia points to one mostly brown with a couple small splotches of white on the face.

“Luna was the only horse that made it out,” she says, letting out a shaky breath. She covers her hand with her mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be,” Robin says as tenderly as she can. “This couldn’t have been a simple accident or you wouldn’t have reached out to me.”

“No—or yes—I’m sorry,” Sumia ducks her head. “But you’re right! This wasn’t an accident at all! It was Vasto! Cordelia is always so careful and checks up on all of our facilities every day to make sure that everything’s safe. There is no way something like this could happen by accident. I may be clumsy at times, but I’d never let this happen either.”

“You mentioned Vasto in your phone call, but I’d like to know more about him,” Robin says, pausing for a moment to murmur a “thank you” when Stahl comes over with their drinks—whiskey for Robin and water for Sumia. “What is his stake in all this?”

“It’s about his ownership of the horses,” Sumia explains. “My family’s been training and boarding horses for generations, but we’d never owned any ourselves. I’d always dreamed of owning my own, so when Mr. Vasto arrived with an offer that gave us ten percent ownership…” Sumia trails off, shame tinging her cheeks pink.

“Of course you took it.” Robin nods understandingly.

“It was working out well at first,” Sumia continues, looking lovingly down at the pictures for a moment before her face clouds over once more. “But then he started getting really angry. They weren’t performing well in the races the past few months, and I was afraid he was going to pull out. But gods, I never expected he would do something like this…” Sumia hides her head in her hands for a few long moments before she looks up. Robin can’t help but see the bags under her eyes. “He’s been trying to frame us for the fire. Now no one is willing to hire us, and even if they were, our stable still needs major repairs.”

“So that’s his game,” Robin grimaces. “He wasn’t getting enough winnings from races so he figures he can make a profit with insurance fraud instead.”

“Miss Validar—”

“Just Robin, please.”

“Robin,” Sumia amends. “I don’t know what else to do. Cordelia tried to convince me to not even contact you in the first place, but we don’t have any options. No one wants to help a case like ours when there’s no hope of winning. I saw you online and I thought… well, maybe…”

Sumia takes a deep breath before she gulps down half of her water in one go.

“It’s going to be okay, Sumia,” Robin says, almost reaching out to grab her hand but stopping before her muscles can even move. After such a long time without it, initiating contact seems a foreign concept made even more awkward by the unabashed scrutiny of Cordelia from across the room. Instead, she gathers up the photos for Sumia and tucks them safely back into the folder she’d brought them in. “We’ll look into the insurance payout Vasto is receiving and see if we can get you a share of that money to at least cover the damages he caused.”

“This isn’t about the money, Miss Robin,” Sumia’s lips quiver as she hugs the folder to her chest. “Money won’t be able to bring back the lives of the horses he killed. And it… it won’t be able to take away the memory of having to—to listen to them scream and not be able to help. Only Luna is left and I don’t want Vasto to have a hand on him. I—I don’t want Vasto to ever do this to anyone else and get away with it again!” Sumia pauses, surprised by her own outburst. She hurriedly stands up.

“Don’t worry,” Robin assures her, standing as well. She spares a glance to Cordelia as she walks over briskly before Robin looks Sumia straight in the eyes. “He _won’t_ get away with this.”

“Sumia,” Cordelia cuts in gently with a light touch to the woman’s elbow. “Would you mind waiting outside in the car for me a moment? I’d like a quick word.”

“O-okay,” Sumia looks back and forth between Robin and Cordelia as she pulls on her coat. She shuffles off hastily, nearly tripping on the carpet.

“Please, allow me,” Stahl is over to the door in seconds, helping Sumia out.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Cordelia turns on Robin as soon as the door shuts safely behind Sumia. Stahl watches with silent alarm. “We’ve got enough on our plates without someone like you trying to take advantage of us!”

“I’m not taking advantage of you,” Robin replies tensely. “I only want to help.”

“Look, I’d like to believe that’s true, but the world doesn’t work that way,” Cordelia sighs heavily. “Sumia’s been through enough. I won’t have you raising her hopes for nothing.”

“This won’t be for nothing, I assure you.”

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t believe you,” Cordelia crosses her arms over her chest. “What sort of agency doesn’t show charges for their services?”

“Mine,” Robin answers without a trace of hesitation. “There are no charges.”

Cordelia sighs again, beyond weary, before fixing Robin with a stern glare.

“And just how do you get paid then?”

“We have other forms of revenue.”

Cordelia doesn’t break eye contact for a few long moments, observing Robin for any clue as to her dishonesty. She sighs yet again when her silent probing comes up empty.

“I’ll be along in person in a couple days,” Robin continues. Cordelia nods weakly in response before walking back outside to rejoin Sumia. Robin gives Stahl a reassuring smile before she turns back around to the table and finishes her whiskey. “Olivia?”

“Y-yes?” Olivia answers from over the earbud.

“Send out the message to the others. We have ourselves a job.”

 

* * *

 

Lon’qu is reaching for the backpack hidden in the dumpster when the sound of a gun’s action being cocked echoes loudly beside his head.

“What, you thought you’d give us the slip that easy?”

Lon’qu turns around slowly, awfully casual for a man with a pistol trained on his nose. He notes the flimsy stance and overly shined shoes—a rookie.

“Hand it over,” the rookie nods to the backpack now by Lon’qu’s feet.

A phone rings, playing some generic ringtone. The rookie does not waver.

“Could be important,” Lon’qu says quietly. “You should answer it.”

The rookie takes one of his hands off the gun to reach for his jacket pocket, and then the other is quickly knocked aside as Lon’qu moves as quickly as a snake, snatching the gun out of his hands and jabbing his elbow into the young man’s face. He stumbles back with a cry as Lon’qu presses the advantage, reaching forward to grab the back of his head and slamming it—hard—onto the dumpster. It’s not hard enough to kill, but more than enough to knock him out cold with the promise of a killer headache when he comes to. Lon’qu will be long gone with his package by then. He hefts it over his shoulder as he digs his ringing phone out of his pocket to glance at the caller ID.

“Yeah?” he answers.

“Robin has a job for us!” Olivia blurts out.

“I’ll be there.”

 

* * *

 

Gaius grins triumphantly to himself as he shimmies between the ceiling of the first floor and the floor of the second as carefully as he can with the painting of some wrinkly old painter that’s been dead for a few centuries. Gaius took a look and didn’t see the appeal of it, but someone was paying an awful lot for it, and he doesn’t question the client’s money like he questions her taste. More importantly, just a little bit farther and he’ll drop down into the service closet, stow the painting in one of the large trash bins on wheels, then safely spirit it away out the back door.

He pauses as he hears a shout of alarm from behind him, a guard discovering an empty section of wall where a painting should be. Gaius curses under his breath, but presses on—time is of the essence. He gets to the service closet without mishap, carefully covering the painting up as he packs it securely in the bin. He’s already nearing the exit, the door in his sights, when a voice orders him to wait.

“Who, me?” Gaius turns around, giving the security guard a sleepy smile. “Do I have toilet paper stuck to my shoe or something?”

“What are—”

The guard stops as Gaius’s phone starts buzzing, momentarily mistaking it for his own pager.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Gaius nearly leaps for his phone, inwardly praising his luck, doubly so when he sees who’s calling. She’ll understand what’s going on. “Hey, babe.”

“B-babe?” Olivia stutters. She does not, in fact, understand.

“What?!” Gaius exclaims loudly. “The baby’s coming?!”

“B-baby? What are you…? Gaius, there’s n-no time for this! W-we’ve got a job! Robin needs us all back!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right there! Just don’t do this without me!” Gaius takes off immediately with the garbage tin in tow, waving to the security guard as he goes.

“Well, we k-kind of need you. We’re a team and all…” There’s a long pause where Olivia says nothing and Gaius slides the painting into the back seat. Olivia gasps as Gaius turns the key in the ignition. “Oh gods, you’re working! I-I’m sorry to interrupt you!”

“Actually, you had perfect timing,” Gaius snickers. “ _Babe._ ”

“J-just get over here!” Olivia cries before hanging up suddenly, cheeks ablaze.

 

* * *

 

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Nowi pounds her fists on her desk, even stomping her feet on the ground in her rage. “I won’t let you get away with this!”

Her fingers fly over the keys, so in focus that she almost doesn’t notice her phone start singing at her. She spares only a moment when she glances over to see Olivia’s face. With an overly dramatic sigh, Nowi picks up the call on her headset.

“Olivia! It’s good to hear from you.”

“O-oh, yes, It’s good to hear you too,” Olivia replies automatically. “Robin has—”

“No!” Nowi shrieks, cutting Olivia off. “No, no, no!”

“Nowi, is everything okay?” Olivia gasps, all concern.

“This meanie is _camping_ and keeps sniping me!” Nowi yells furiously, throwing her hands up and rolling away from her computer desk in a rage. “And my stupid teammates aren’t helping me! Fine! Just fine! They can heal themselves!”

“Um…” Olivia clears her throat.

“I will have my revenge, Bootylicious69! I will unleash hell on you!”

“Nowi!” Olivia shouts.

“What?” Nowi asks innocently, temporarily distracted from her righteous crusade.

“We have a job to do!”

“But I’ve got to—”

“Robin is counting on us!” Olivia presses.

Nowi lets out an overly exaggerated sigh.

“Okay,” she pouts, already pulling up a website to purchase plane tickets. “Enjoy this time while you can Bootylicious69, because your days are numbered.”

“Um, j-just to be clear, you _are_ talking about a video game? Someone in a video game?”

“Yep. Why?”

“O-oh, good. I was ah, a little worried I’d be interrupting something important.”

“This _is_ important!” Nowi protests at once.

 

* * *

 

“Would you look at us? The team, back together again!” Nowi says proudly as she walks with Gaius, Lon’qu, and Olivia to the elevator up to Robin’s apartment.

Robin had exchanged her rundown apartment and strange landlord Hubba for a suite on the top floor of a much classier building. The only other suite on the same floor was owned by someone who Robin reported to never even be home, so privacy was not an issue.

“It’s been a long time,” Gaius notes as Nowi presses the button. Lon’qu grunts the affirmative. “So, what did you guys spend your money on?”

“Oh, where to start?” Nowi clasps her hands together, eyes sparkling. The elevator starts moving. “You guys are gonna _love_ all the new tech I’ve got set up for us!”

“Y-you didn’t spend all of your money and s-stuff for us?” Olivia sounds one part surprised and the other guilty.

“Of course not!” Nowi waves a hand casually before Olivia can escape from the elevator to hightail it to the nearest mall to purchase gifts. “I hooked myself up first. And Auntie’s taken care of too.” She leans forward to whisper conspiratorially, “She doesn’t know it’s from me.”

With Nowi’s record of remaining inconspicuous, the other three have no doubt that her aunt knows.

“I almost got her a vacation home,” Nowi continues thoughtfully, “but I didn’t want to overwhelm her.”

“I-I got myself one,” Olivia says, then immediately shrinks when she realizes she’s said it out loud. Her voice gets quieter with every word as she continues. “It’s o-on an i-island with a private beach.”

“Ooh, nice,” Gaius says appreciatively. “I’m not much for buying fancy houses myself, but I can appreciate the idea behind it. I still have most of my money kicking around. For emergencies.”

“And here I thought you’d spend it all on sugar,” Lon’qu deadpans.

“What did you get, Lon’qu?” Nowi asks.

Lon’qu stares at her blankly.

“Lon’qu?” Nowi presses.

Lon’qu escapes Nowi’s questioning by stepping out as soon as the elevator door slides open. With Olivia’s assurance that Robin had promised the door would be unlocked for them, they go inside. Gaius gives a low whistle as they look around.

The first thing they see is a very professional looking sign hanging on a wall that reads “Leverage Consulting and Associates.” A room to their right holds a table and chairs, business-like, yet still comforting in a way. Likely where she intends to meet with clients. As they walk around to the left, they are reminded that Robin lives here as well.

First, a kitchen—that looks hardly used, judging from how clean it is—then past that, a living room. A curling set of stairs go up to a level that rests above the kitchen and room with the table, covering half of the space of the downstairs. The first floor proves to go around in a circle, with another entrance to the room with the table and chairs from around the living room. Robin herself is still nowhere to be seen, but her coat hangs on the rack on one wall of the kitchen and her shoes are placed in a row beside other pairs of boots and sandals.

“Isn’t it nice?” Nowi coos as they gather around the table, looking at three large screens in a row covering one wall.

“Y-you’ve already been in here?” Olivia sounds surprised.

“Yep! Robin wanted my help setting _this_ up.”

Nowi picks up a tablet that sits in the middle of the table and swipes the screen. All three larger screens on the wall turn on, already covered in multiple tabs and open documents.

“This is my pride and joy!” Nowi gestures to it. “I’ve got us connected to all major intelligence networks, so we can easily check records, run facial recognition software, the whole nine yards. I even made records for us too.” She spins around to open one of the drawers of the discreet cabinet on the opposite wall, pulling out a few manila folders. “Robin’s family has now officially been in this business for four generations, and we’ve all been loyal employees since we each started.”

“I don’t blame us with benefits like these,” Gaius raises his eyebrows as he looks through the paperwork in his file. “Nowi, do you even know what an average amount of vacation time is for a normal job?”

“Robin said it was okay,” Nowi purses her lips. “If you don’t want it you can give it to me instead.”

“Now’s not the time for a vacation,” Robin says, appearing in the doorway to the living room. “Nowi, I saw this morning that you’ve already gotten the info I sent you.”

“Yep!” Nowi says proudly, puffing out her chest. “I compiled a bio while I was waiting for my flight.”

“Nice work,” Robin spares her a smile as she sits down in one of the chairs and gestures for the others to do the same. “Pull it up, please.”

“Sure thing, Boss Lady!” Nowi throws Robin a salute then presses the tablet.

Some official looking documents slide onto the screen along with a picture of a man with unruly brown hair styled into spikes. Though not a bad looking guy, the eyes looking down his sharp nose make Robin feel uneasy. Olivia presses her cat sticker-embellished pen to her lips in thought.

“Olio Vasto,” Nowi strikes a pose, gesturing grandly to his image on the screen. “He’s a hedge fund manager for Chalard & Sons—Wall Street guys. He’s made them tons of money in the last five years.” Nowi swipes a news report front and center on the screen. The article boasts another stellar year, even featuring a picture of Vasto looking off camera with a steady balance of thoughtful and arrogant. “We’re talking fifty million dollars sort of lots of money,” Nowi clarifies.

“He doesn’t mess around,” Lon’qu notes grimly.

“On the contrary, Lonky!” Nowi waggles her finger. Lon’qu’s eyes narrow at the nickname, but Nowi shrugs it off. “He’s got a taste for some high-risk hobbies. First there’s his history of high stakes poker, and now he’s started getting into horse races.”

“A gambling man then,” Robin says with a ghost of a smile. She immediately flattens her features when she sees Olivia observing her.

“He’s dumped a lot of money to buy Sumia and Cordelia’s horses. Oh, and check out this little tidbit, Robin!”

Robin leans forward in her seat as Nowi pulls up the paperwork.

“Excellus Insurance is covering Vasto’s policy on the horses.”

“Excellus?” Oliva raises her eyebrows, immediately looking to Robin. “I-is this going to be okay? Are… are you?”

“It’s fine,” Robin says, though no one seems to believe her. She sighs heavily. “Of course I don’t mind screwing over my old bosses. I’m actually more than happy to.”

Olivia looks uneasy, but she doesn’t press it.

“Our main goal is to get Vasto’s last horse for Sumia,” Robin says, looking at Nowi to continue. Nowi nods, swiping at the tablet again. Luna appears on the screen, standing serenely amidst a field of grass.

“Vasto’s last surviving horse, Luna,” Nowi points to the picture, then over to the race records. “He’s won three times and placed in two. Vasto has him insured for three hundred thousand dollars a year.”

“Nice job, Nowi,” Robin says as the girl beams with pride. She rests her elbows on the table as she laces her fingers together, deep in thought. “We’ll need to a find a place to meet him. Do you happen to know what Vasto’s schedule looks like for the next few days?”

“Pft, who do you think you’re talking to?” Nowi scoffs, puffing herself up as much as a person as tiny as her can manage. “I’ve got his schedule right here…” She taps at the tablet for a few seconds before pulling it up. “Looks like a big race is going on this weekend near where Sumia and Cordelia are.”

“Oh,” Robin says with a chuckle in her voice. She turns slowly to Olivia, who seems to find something amusing as well. “Tell me, Olivia. How is your Southern Belle?”

Olivia giggles as Robin rises from her seat.

“Alright then. We’ve got a horse to steal.”


	6. An Old Friend

Robin adjusts the miniature camera on her pinstriped suitcoat. She shifts in her seat, feeling a little out of place after not having to dress up for so long.

“Is this good?” she asks, shifting the camera down before securing it tightly beside one of the buttons.

“Yep, I have a clear visual!” Nowi reports.

Robin nods, pleased with the result. Lon’qu sits across from her at the table in a backroom of the building. Distant cheers can be heard from outside as the latest round of races comes to a close. Inside, Robin waits for Nowi’s report the next room over where the camera links to her laptop.

“We’ve got a pair of eights,” Nowi says conversationally.

Lon’qu even cracks a smile—however small it is—when he turns his cards around to affirm it.

“I’ve got visual on Vasto,” Gaius chimes in. He’s stationed in the open foyer, dressed as one of the attending waiters, able to easily survey everyone coming in or out. “Already at the bar this early in the day? Tsk tsk.”

“Whenever you’re ready, Olivia,” Robin says, fidgeting with her collar.

“I still don’t see why I don’t get to wear the hat,” Nowi pouts.

“You can wear it after we’re done,” Robin says wearily, already having covered this numerous times as soon as Nowi spotted Olivia’s grandiose, wide-brimmed, flower-adorned hat.

Nowi humphs, but soon is caught up in listening to Olivia in action. She moves smoothly through the crowd, her ‘thank you darling’s and ‘lovely to see you again’s effortlessly making her appear as a woman in her element.

“You sure are good at accents, Twinkletoes,” Gaius says, resisting the urge to snicker through Olivia’s southern drawl.

“Through lots of practice, honey,” Olivia replies, still in character. She puts on a charming smile as she approaches Vasto at the bar, ordering himself a whiskey. “A bourbon, straight,” she adds. The bartender nods as he goes about getting the drinks.

Vasto gives a low whistle, glancing over. Olivia looks over slyly, favoring him with a grin.

“Now you’re a woman who knows how to order a drink. I like that.”

Robin makes an odd snorting noise as she tries not to laugh.

“Charlotte Sinclair,” Olivia provides sweetly. “You can call me Lottie.”

“Vasto,” he replies, looking her up and down. “Olio Vasto. And you can call me whatever you like.”

This time Robin’s snort is much more pronounced. Gaius even joins in, going for a comical take of the subtle gravel of Vasto’s voice.

“You can call me whatever you like,” he mimics. “I’m so suave and sexy and _definitely_ know what the ladies want.”

“So, what brings you here?” Vasto continues. “Business or pleasure?”

“Business, officially. But it’s an easy thing to find the pleasure in it,” Olivia says, all honey.

“Oh, I know what you mean.”

“I know all about pleasure,” Gaius cuts in again with his Vasto impression. “Mine anyway. All the ladies I’m with always end up frustrated instead.”

Robin splutters, the sip of her drink she was in the middle of taking tumbling sloppily back into her glass.

“Cut it out,” Lon’qu warns sternly.

“Oh, come on,” Gaius says, though he doesn’t sound too bothered. “It’s that or make fun of all the stupid hats, and there’s only so many ways I can comically compare them to parade floats. Besides, Robin likes my humor.”

“Guys, you’ll distract Olivia,” Robin says hurriedly, but Olivia has effectively zoned out the extra chatter on her earpiece.

“So what exactly is this business of yours?” Vasto asks, leaning on the counter. He slowly runs a finger on the rim of his glass.

“Scouting,” Olivia replies. “I’m a bloodstock agent. You wouldn’t happen to be interested in purchasing a horse?”

“Depends,” Vasto replies as they both chuckle. “Got anything fast?”

“Is he talking about the horse or a secret rendezvous in a closet?” Gaius snorts as he walks over, purpose in every step.

“Fast is all well and good,” Olivia leans forward for a pretzel from the bowl on the table, brushing against Vasto in the process, “but I prefer mine with more… endurance.”

“That doesn’t clear things up for me, Twinkletoes,” Gaius teases while he’s still far enough away and covered by other conversations for Vasto to not hear.

Olivia discreetly holds up Vasto’s wallet as Gaius walks by, having slipped it out of his pocket when she reached for the pretzels. Vasto is far more interested in his and Olivia’s shortening vicinity to notice his wallet’s disappearance.

“Are you fairly new to the business?” Vasto asks, struggling for a moment where he decides where to rest his eyes. “I’m not familiar with your name.”

“Oh, I suppose you could say I’m a little camera shy,” Olivia looks down demurely, eyelashes fluttering. “I prefer to work quietly if I can, but I assure you, I’ve sold my share of winners.”

“Do you have it, Gaius?” Robin asks.

“I do now,” Gaius says, slipping a card reader from out of his breast pocket to slide Vasto’s card through it.

“Okay, I’m getting it now.” Nowi leans forward in her seat, humming herself a victory fanfare as she opens up Vasto’s account. “He’s got a limit of fifty thousand dollars on here.”

“Got that, Olivia?” Robin asks.

“And what’s this?” Gaius pauses as he puts Vasto’s card back into his wallet. “He’s put down money on a horse called Swift Wing.”

Olivia and Vasto both stand at the announcement of the next race. They follow a few others back out, Gaius tailing them with Vasto’s wallet in hand.

“One of my sales is actually in this next race,” Olivia leans in again under the pretense of being heard over the myriad other conversations taking place around them, taking the wallet back from Gaius to slip back into Vasto’s pocket while she does so. “Perhaps you’ve heard of Swift Wing?”

“I have,” Vasto grins. There’s a sort of nasty edge to it. “I hear he’s good. I’ve even placed a couple thousand down in his favor.” He offers Olivia his hand as they step into the stands. She accepts it graciously. “After this race, I’d like to buy you a drink with my winnings.”

“Oh, I’d normally love to, but as I said, I’m here for business first,” Olivia says with a good natured chuckle. Vasto follows her as she continues walking down the rows of seats. Down below, the gun fires and the horses take off. “I host an annual poker game here at the track, you see. It’s become a tradition for my high-end clients.”

“Is there room at the table for one more?” Vasto asks without hesitation.

“This is a high stakes game we’re talking about, Mr. Vasto,” Olivia replies amidst the cheers around them. She sits down, Vasto following suit. “The buy-in alone is fifty thousand dollars.”

“I’d like in,” Vasto presses.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Olivia purrs before looking over to the horses already nearing the finish line.

“We’re ready whenever you want to bring him over,” Robin says as the stadium interrupts into both cheers and boos yet again. “Though Gaius could stand to comb his hair.”

“Sure thing, _mom_.” Gaius makes a show of rolling his eyes as he pulls on his new suitcoat.

“Even Lon’qu gets to wear a hat!” Nowi whines, watching Lon’qu don a fedora.

“You can have it when I’m done with it,” Lon’qu replies. Even with his voice so flat, Nowi sounds touched.

“Aw, Lon-Lon!”

Robin can’t resist a giggle at the face Lon’qu makes in response to the nickname.

“Stop doing that,” Lon’qu grumbles. “Just use my name.”

“But Gaius has nicknames for everyone but you and I didn’t want you to feel left out!”

“I’m fine without it,” Lon’qu frowns.

“I don’t know,” Gaius plops down in the chair to Robin’s left. “Lon-Lon just might fit you…”

If looks could kill, the one Lon’qu shoots Gaius as he sits across the table from him is a fatal blow.

“Just this way,” Olivia directs Vasto after he picks up his winnings from a successful race.

Robin thwacks Gaius’s arm.

“Feet off the table.”

“Hey, I thought I was playing the spoiled rich kid!”

“That’s no excuse for tracking mud on a clean table.”

Any further argument is cut short as they hear voices in the hallway outside. Gaius hastily places his feet firmly on the ground. Olivia opens the door and steps inside, removing her large hat as she makes way for Vasto to come in.

“Evening, gentlemen, lady.”

Robin, Gaius, and Lon’qu each nod respectfully before looking at Vasto.

“Mr. Vasto, this is our friend Lance,” she points out Gaius, who winks and throws out finger guns. “He’s recently inherited the family oil business. Our daddies have worked with each other for some time.”

“We provide the oil, you provide the horses,” Gaius laughs, leaning forward to shake Vasto’s hand. “A pleasure to have you join us.”

“The pleasure’s mine,” Vasto returns.

“This here is Abel Bailey,” Olivia gestures to Lon’qu now. “And dare I say, he’s the best horse trainer around this parts.”

“Why isn’t he working for me then?” Vasto says with another nasty grin as he shakes Lon’qu’s hand.

“Because he works for me,” Robin leans forward, narrowing her eyes. Nowi starts giggling like mad over the coms at Robin’s Southern accent, but Robin powers through. “Igrene Thoron. And who are you?”

“Igrene,” Olivia cuts in before Vasto can speak, like one hungry to impress. “This is Mr. Vasto, the investor from New York.”

“Oh, you were the fella whose stable burnt down. And all those horses still in it. Mm. Not very good for business, that. Lettin’ your stable burn down.”

Robin laughs, but all Vasto can seem to manage is a bitter chuckle.

“Let’s get to it then,” Robin claps her hands together. “Lottie dear, would you like to—”

“Actually,” Vasto cuts in, “I’ve just got this new deck. I’d love to break it in.” He pulls a deck, still wrapped in plastic, from his breast pocket. “No one minds?”

“Sure,” Robin relents after only a second’s hesitation. “Just hand that over to Lottie so we can get on with playin’ and you can get on with givin’ me all your money.”

“No, no, no, no!” Nowi cuts in frantically. “This is no good! I can’t see through these ones.”

“Don’t be so sure of that,” Vasto remarks in a show of bravado.

“Don’t think that a fresh deck will be able to stop me from winning,” Robin says to Nowi as much as Vasto.

The game begins, Nowi making her discomfort known every so often with an annoyed whine. Thankfully, Robin is no stranger to the game of poker. If she’d learned anything from her father, it was how to play to win. She taps two fingers on the table three times a few rounds in, surveying the cards in her hand.

“Tell me, Igrene,” Olivia says, looking from Robin’s hand to her face. “How’d your last purchase work for you?”

“Quite well,” Robin replies casually. “I can tell it came from a good line.”

“Quite right,” Olivia smiles. Her hands fall to her lap at the start of the next round before she sets her cards down on the table. “I fold.”

Gaius, twirling his cards absentmindedly, is the next to back out. He pats Robin heartily on the back.

“I can never seem to beat you, ma’am.”

“Just the way I like it,” Robin grins, keeping her eyes on the cards.

Lon’qu lasts a few more rounds before he speaks.

“So have you gotten that latest remodel finished, Igrene?”

Robin smiles as the last card falls into place, resting in its hiding place up her sleeve.

“I have indeed.”

Despite the ever growing pile of chips on the table, Vasto is hardly phased. At last, Lon’qu folds and the money raises higher than Vasto can meet.

“What are you waitin’ on there, Mr. New York?” Robin says gruffly.

“I’m short about thirty thousand,” Vasto replies, unconcerned. “This watch on me is worth about—”

“Woah there,” Robin cuts him short. “We only play for cash and horses. Do you happen to have any of those left or did you really manage to lose _all_ of your property?”

Vasto grinds his teeth, unamused by the dig.

“Fine,” he turns to spit. “I’ll put in my last horse.”

Pulling a pen from his pocket and an extra napkin on the table for setting drinks on, he writes down Luna’s name then signs, passing it over to Olivia beside him to sign as a witness. She does so, hand wavering for just a moment as pen meets napkin. With so many aliases under her figurative hat—the literal hat resting on one of the hooks behind her—Robin isn’t too surprised.

“And _this_ is how we do things in New York. Settle up.”

“Sure thing, honey,” Robin chuckles. “Like I don’t know a bluff when I see one.”

“Oh really?” Vasto gives Robin a nasty grin, turning his cards around to a reveal four fives.

Robin sends a nasty grin back, turning her own cards over. Vasto swears as four queens stare back at him.

“You cheating son of a—”

“I’d thank you to leave my mother out of your bein’ a sore loser,” Robin leans back in her seat to better look down her nose at Vasto. “Abel, I’d be mighty obliged if you’d go about seeing that Mr. New York gets me my horse. And you…” Robin shrugs as she regards a livid Vasto. “You’re welcome to come back and play anytime. I can always take more cash. And more horses should you get yourself some more.”

“You wish,” Vasto scoffs. “This isn’t a binding contract, so good luck trying to take him from me.”

“Isn’t binding?” Robin scoffs back. “You had four fives, and I had four queens. Unless I’m mistaken, four _queens_ is a lot better than four fives. I’m more than happy to spread the word around that Mr. Vasto the New York bigshot doesn’t come through on his bets if you’d prefer that.”

Vasto throws his cards up in the air, face flushed entirely red. Olivia leans far away in her seat as he storms past her, slamming the door on his way out. With Vasto gone, Robin reaches for the pile and Vasto’s signature.

“We did it,” Olivia sighs, back to her usual, quiet little voice.

“That we did,” Robin replies, rising from her seat.

“Didn’t doubt you for an instant, Bubbles,” Gaius grins, already shrugging off the tailored coat. “Comes from a good line, and a Q for queen. I almost get the feeling you’ve cheated at cards before.”

“That’s the way I was taught to play, anyway,” Robin returns the grin. “I have to ask though, why Bubbles?”

“Eh, you look like a Bubbles,” Gaius shrugs, making for the door as Nowi bursts through, holding her laptop under one arm.

Gaius dances around her as she makes a beeline for Olivia’s hat, placing it atop her own head without further ado. Snatching up the coat Gaius left behind, she drapes it over her shoulders and strikes a pose.

“How do I look?” Nowi says, dropping her voice down into what she likely suspects is a seductive tone.

“Dashing,” Olivia manages through a giggle.

“How are you going to fit my hat on there?” Lon’qu asks, tossing it lightly to let it slide across the table. Nowi snatches it up immediately.

“This will be my _outdoor_ hat. Please, don’t you know anything about horse people culture?”

“I’m going to head back to my hotel room,” Robin announces, removing her earpiece and placing it carefully in the soft cases Nowi handed them all out in. “We can make the two hour drive back to Sumia and Cordelia’s in the morning to deliver the good news.”

“O-okay,” Olivia replies as Lon’qu nods. Nowi is too caught up in trying to balance the fedora on top of Olivia’s hat while still on her head to manage more than a strained “mm hm.”

Robin sets out at once, no more reason to stick around. She nods to Gaius on the way who’s started poking around near the betting station as the evening races start to gear up. There’s a warm feeling in her head, but she knows that it’s alcohol more than the accomplishment of helping Sumia and Cordelia. She frowns as she steps out into the cool air, inwardly chastising herself. She should quit, but old coping mechanisms are hard to kick. Still, she knows herself well enough that there’ll probably be a glass of wine to accompany her dinner regardless of her intentions.

A car door closes from somewhere behind her. Then there’s someone walking in brisk, measured steps. Fuzzy head or not, Robin feels that she should recognize something about that gait…

“A pleasant time of day for a stroll,” a familiar voice says as the gait slows to match pace with hers.

Robin manages to hide her surprise in a few seconds, but he’s already seen it.

“Oh, don’t act so surprised,” the tall man sounds like he’s resisting every urge to roll his eyes. Robin notes his hair has grown even longer, tied back neatly in a tail. “Foolishness does not become you.”

“I don’t see how taking a stroll is foolish, Jakob,” Robin replies casually. Her sluggish brain tries to piece together what reason he could possibly have for—

“It is when one considers the place you came from,” Jakob says, businesslike and stern. “Tell me, what reason could you possibly have for taking part in a poker game with the target of an open insurance investigation?”

“Investigation?” Robin cuts off her own line of inquiry as the pieces click together. “Ah. But the local law enforcement seem to be under the impression that the whole situation was an unfortunate accident.”

“Well, local law enforcement doesn’t have to pay up because of unfortunate accidents.”

“So you’re here to investigate the claim on the fire.”

“Yes. The only question that remains is why _you’re_ here.”

They walk in silence for a few seconds before Jakob looks back at Robin with an appraising eye.

“You’re not here for some sort of harebrained scheme of yours, I hope. Those always were your style. Trick the client into airing some sort of dirty laundry, usually involving arson or fraud, then save the company from having to pay for it. I don’t see what you could possibly gain from it… unless you intend to use this in some plot to regain your old position at Excellus.”

“Yes, you’ve caught me,” Robin bites sarcastically. “I definitely want to go back to working for worms like Excellus.”

“As you like,” Jakob shrugs, unphased. He’s seen Robin angry before, and this isn’t the first time it’s been directed his way. “I’ve gotten rather comfortable in your old office, so you’ll excuse me if I’d rather not give up the lovely view.”

Robin says nothing, doing her best to regain her neutral façade. Jakob rests his hands together behind his back as he continues.

“Sumia and Cordelia are nice people, all things considered. A shame for them to get caught up in this.”

“They’re innocent,” Robin returns with a better rein on her temper than before.

“But that doesn’t matter either way. You can’t tell me you’ve been out of the game so long you’ve forgotten, Robin. Innocent, guilty… it matters not. You were the one to truly show me that. What matters is who pays.”

“I thought you cared more than that,” Robin tries to keep her voice level, but she can’t entirely withhold an edge of judgement.

“There are things I care about,” Jakob says, though he doesn’t sound it. “That’s why I do this. And that’s why I’m giving you this warning: do not interfere. There’s nothing you can do that I won’t be able to counter.”

“What if I’m not doing anything?”

“I do apologize. I didn’t realize I stuttered. There is _nothing_ you can do that I won’t be able to counter.”

Robin keeps her face flat, but her fists still clench at her sides.

“I must thank you, really,” Jakob continues. “Vasto was getting to be boring. This proves to be… far more interesting.”

“Fine. I’ll just back off and let you—”

“Backing off when we haven’t even gotten started? How uncharacteristic of you. No, we both know there’s no backing down for either of us.”

“Robin!” Olivia’s voice calls.

Both Robin and Jakob turn around as Olivia pulls up in her car. She freezes like a deer in the headlights upon spotting who Robin walks with.

“Olivia Montoya!” Jakob says pleasantly. “It _has_ been some time.” He turns to Robin, mildly amused. “Far more interesting, indeed.”

He inclines his head in something of a bow before he walks back to his own car. Robin shakily opens Olivia’s car door and collapses into the passenger seat.

“R-Robin?” Olivia takes Robin’s hand and squeezes. “Are—are you okay?”

Robin shakes her head, hiding behind her hands as she takes a shaky breath.

“We need a new plan.”

She wishes for a drink in her hand as she reaches for her phone to call the others, Olivia driving them away with a determined expression.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS WEAK AND PUT IN A FATES CHARACTER. I HUMBLY BEG ALL OF YOUR PARDONS.


	7. Diversions

Gaius paces back and forth in agitation while Lon’qu gives Robin—and likely the world as a whole—the most incredulous look she’s ever seen. Olivia, finally allowing herself to show how shaken she was now that they’re back in the safety of the hotel room, tries again to take a sip of water, but ends up setting the glass down in defeat.

“What are our options?” Lon’qu presses as Robin helps herself to the room’s minibar.

“I’m still working that out.”

“What’s the big deal about this guy anyway?” Nowi asks, the only one unaffected by Jakob’s appearance. She looks to Robin, but Robin is unable to meet her gaze, her head already aching.

“This is Jakob Bedivere we’re talking about,” Gaius provides when Robin remains silent. “The guy’s insane.”

Nowi raises her eyebrows, unimpressed.

“There’s no questioning his dedication,” Lon’qu warns. “There’s a rumor that before he went to work for Excellus, he was some kind of Special Forces.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Gaius says, nervously stuffing candy in his mouth at an astonishing speed. “I heard that one guy he was investigating tried to arrange an accident and he ended up fending off his attackers with nothing but a dessert spoon.”

“I’d heard that he waited in the trunk of a car for three days just to catch someone,” Lon’qu adds.

“It was f-five,” Olivia says in a quiet voice, her nerves easing back down to their usual levels of fidgeting. “Five days.”

“Really?” Nowi looks back and forth, one part horrified, the other excited. “You guys aren’t pulling my leg are you?”

“T-this is really s-serious!” Olivia cries out, cheeks slowly flushing. “Y-you—you all know how g-good Robin was back in the day. B-but… Jakob has Robin beat in single minded determination. A-and he’s c-clever and strong on t-top of that.”

“I’m still good,” Robin mutters from the minibar.

“We’ve already got the horse though,” Gaius cuts in. “Can’t we just hand it over to Sumia and Cordelia then high tail it out of here?”

“No,” Robin sighs, slowly massaging her temples. “Jakob won’t just let that slide. He’s convinced I’ve got some sort of scheme at play and he’s not going to let anything I do go. If I give Luna to Sumia and Cordelia, he’ll target them, and as you guys have just made clear, you do not want to be one of Jakob’s targets. Either way, the horse will probably end up back in Vasto’s clutches.”

“This isn’t right,” Lon’qu says bitterly.

“No, it’s not,” Robin shakes her head.

“But Vasto can’t just get away with this,” Gaius steps forward suddenly, surprising Robin with his sudden burst of passion. “He _killed_ nine horses, and almost did the same for the tenth.”

“He won’t, Gaius,” Robin assures. “I gave Sumia my word, and I don’t intend to back out now.”

“Robin?” Olivia looks up from her lap, though she still fiddles nervously with the light pink cloth of her skirt. “You… have a plan?”

“I think. And one that should have a happy ending for everyone at that.”

“What do you need?” Lon’qu asks, on to business at once.

“I’ll need Nowi and Gaius to keep an eye on Jakob and run interference. Olivia, you need to bring Vasto back. As for you, Lon’qu,” Robin hesitates just a moment, but presses on. “I’ll need you to come with me. We’re going to look for a stable, and hopefully we can get Cordelia to help us.”

Lon’qu tenses up reflexively just thinking about being stuck with two women, but still nods stiffly.

“I-in the meantime,” Olivia stands up, planting her feet firmly to the ground as if she intends to gather strength from the gesture. “We should all get a good night’s sleep while we can. O-once we get started, there w-won’t be many more chances. Jakob is said to work on only four hours of sleep every night.”

Nowi laughs, but stops when she finds that no one else is.

“Aw, this isn’t gonna be much fun is it?” she pouts.

“With Jakob involved?” Robin chuckles. “Unlikely.”

 

* * *

 

_Robin screams, hard and bloodcurdling. Her voice has long since grown hoarse, her throat burning. She screams again, throwing herself against the glass as the beeps cease, little green line going flat. Someone is saying something to her—trying to hold her back—but she throws them off, nearly tripping over her feet in her haste to reach the hospital bed._

_If she can just make it to him—if she can just hold him—then maybe…_

_She doesn’t make it. She had back then, but it didn’t matter how tightly she clutched her son. Morgan was gone, and no matter how many tears she shed, she could not bring him back._

She jerks forward suddenly. Lon’qu is staring back at her now, his eyes wide open in surprise. He leaps back before Robin even realizes he’d been reaching out to touch her.

“I’m sorry, Lon’qu,” Robin groans around her pounding headache. He was likely just trying to wake her from her nightmare, though part of Robin is mortified that he’s even seen her like this.

Lon’qu, to his credit, doesn’t start asking questions. Instead, he nods to the bedside table where a glass of water and bottle of aspirin awaits her. Gods bless Lon’qu, Robin thinks. She must have looked a sorry state if he was willing to overcome his aversion to shake her out of it.

“Thanks,” Robin says once the glass is empty. “I hope I didn’t scare you.”

“You didn’t,” Lon’qu replies evenly. “I’m no stranger to those kinds of dreams.”

Robin regards Lon’qu curiously, but he looks away.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” he leaves without a backward glance.

Robin sighs heavily, letting herself slowly lie back down, staring up at the ceiling.

“This is what I drink all the alcohol to _avoid_ ,” she gripes to the rough texture of the ceiling above her.

The ceiling remains silent, but she’d hardly expected anything different.

Robin drags herself out of bed, heading for the shower. Then she owes Miss Cordelia a call.

 

* * *

 

“Thank you for being willing to meet with us,” Robin says graciously.

“Thank you for telling me what’s really going on,” Cordelia replies.

“I was a little worried you wouldn’t approve,” Robin admits.

“Sumia is my best friend, Miss Validar.” Cordelia’s eyes narrow. “When Vasto massacred the horses, he broke Sumia’s heart. Anything you have planned for him is well deserved.”

“So,” Robin draws out the ‘o’ as she looks around the stable Cordelia brought them to. Lon’qu stands some space behind them, but Robin knows he’s listening. “How would something like this normally work? Do all of these horses belong to me?”

“Not all of them. Trainers board horses from multiple owners, and it makes sense to just house them all in one stable. Claiming all of them would be too farfetched.”

“Fair.” Robin cranes her neck to look down along the series of stalls. “Technically, the stable belongs to the trainer though?”

“That’s right,” Cordelia says, starting to walk further down, leaving Robin—and Lon’qu, still at a safe distance—to follow her. She inclines her head behind her in Lon’qu’s general direction. “Your office would be down this way.”

“What about the logos?” Robin points a couple out pinned onto the front of the stalls. “We’re going to need some of our own to make it more official.”

“Already covered all the signage, Bubbles,” Gaius pipes up form over the coms. “Me and Nowi printed off a few this morning while we were waiting for Jakob to do something.”

“Oh,” Robin says, surprised that he’d already thought of it. “Nice work.”

“What was that?” Cordelia looks back fully.

“Nothing important,” Robin smiles. “Could you show us that office?”

“Of course.”

 

* * *

 

“Any sign of him yet?” Nowi asks. She sways back and forth in the passenger seat of the black van with her laptop on her lap, Gaius beside her in the driver’s seat reaching over to search the glovebox for one of his candy stashes.

“He’s taking his sweet time, that’s for sure,” Gaius grumbles, snatching his bonbons out of reach before Nowi can snag one.

“Aw, c’mon!” Nowi pouts, wiggling as much as she can without tipping her laptop too precariously. “I’ve been working hard all morning!”

“All you’ve done so far is break your old record in Fruit Ninja,” Gaius drawls. “You shoved it in my face and everything.”

“Hey, I printed those—”

“I see him,” Gaius crawls over his seat to peer out the back windows at Jakob’s sleek grey car.

“Don’t change the subject,” Nowi protests, crawling after him.

“Now isn’t the time for this, kid.”

“It’s the perfect time!” Nowi cries.

“We’ve got to keep him out of Robin’s hair for now. You’re not planning on throwing all her hard work out the window because of a silly little temper tantrum are you?”

Gaius cringes as Nowi’s face twists up. He sees Jakob pulling into a parking spot a short ways away.

“Okay, okay! Take a bonbon! Take the whole box for all I care!”

“Okay!” Nowi chirps, seizing her prize with a triumphant grin. She stuffs three in her mouth at once then hits a few keys. “I love these fancy new cars. Do you know what runs all of the nice new features?”

Upon glancing at Gaius’s sullen features, Nowi places the box between them with a sigh. Gaius immediately digs in before she can change her mind. Nowi, however, has a more important task on mind than bonbons. In seconds she’s hacked into the computer system of Jakob’s car, locking him inside as he’s reaching for the latch.

“I love technology,” Nowi lets out a dreamy sigh as Jakob’s wiper blades start whipping back and forth at full speed, the car alarm effectively blocking out all loud complaints Jakob could possibly make.

Jakob does take a few moments to ineffectually attempt to regain control of his car, but he very quickly goes still, visibly looking around.

“What are you doing…?” Gaius whispers, leaning forward.

“Messing with that Jakob guy!” Nowi responds like it’s obvious.

“Not you,” Gaius waves her off hurriedly, ignoring Nowi’s huff. “Wait, is he looking at us?”

“The windows are tinted,” Nowi snorts. “And it’s not like he knows what we look like. There’s no way he’d…”

She trails off as her laptop picks up Jakob’s call, listening in.

“Hello, police?” Jakob says, all polite concern. “Yes, I’m by the racetrack. I just walked past a black van and I think I heard muffled screaming. I’m not sure, but I think I might have heard someone cock a gun. I’m pretty scared that someone might be in trouble and I don’t know what to do. Yes, I’ll stay on the line with you.”

Nowi and Gaius exchange shocked expressions. When they look back to Jakob’s car, they can see him looking back, staring right at them. He even _waves_. They can practically hear the taunt in it: _I can see you._

“How?” Gaius says helplessly.

“He’s like Robin if she were evil,” Nowi says breathlessly. “And taller. And a guy. And British. What do we do?”

“Pray that we gave Robin enough time,” Gaius says quickly, climbing back over into the driver’s seat and cranking the ignition.

Jakob continues to watch them as they drive away.

 

* * *

 

“Mr. Vasto,” Olivia purrs. “You have my thanks for coming on such short notice.”

“Well, I still owe you that drink I promised after all,” Vasto replies, Olivia giggling in response.

“Oh, Mr. Vasto,” Robin says loudly, cutting the reunion short. Vasto prematurely begins grinding his teeth. Robin can’t help but feel some small modicum of glee at this.

“Business first, pleasure afterwards,” Vasto promises aside to Olivia before he turns his full attention to Robin. “I need to talk to you.”

“This better not be about you wanting to beg on your hands and knees for your horse back. He’s already settled in so nicely.”

“I don’t beg,” Vasto bites back. “We need to talk.”

“Sure, fine,” Robin shrugs. “Come on then.”

Robin leads the way down the lines of stalls, opening the door at the end without ceremony. Lon’qu looks up at their unannounced arrival, halfway up from his seat when Robin barges over to stand beside him. She doesn’t give him a chance to tense up, shooing him off.

“We need to use your office, Abel. Can’t take too long. Don’t imagine there’s anything too important to be said.”

Lon’qu looks around grudgingly before squeezing past Vasto back outside of the office—Olivia, graciously, having already made plenty of room for him.

“Alright,” Robin leans back in the chair, pointing at Vasto. “You’re on.”

“Look, here’s how this goes. My insurance guy is a stickler. He says the sale can’t go through until my claim’s been sorted out.”

“O’ course he did,” Robin rolls her eyes, sending Olivia a look of shared longsuffering as Vasto powers on.

“Either way, I want to buy Luna back. I’ve got thirty thousand with me right here, let’s even it up.”

“Oh, honey,” Robin says, voice dripping with honeyed condescension. “The price has gone up, my friend. I won’t part with that horse for anything less than two million.”

“What?” Vasto exclaims, looking back and forth between Robin and Olivia for some clue as to what is going on. “Are you fu—”

“Yeah,” Robin cuts him off smugly. “I’ve got a big deal coming up and could use the cash. Two million bucks or nothing, darlin’.”

“You’re out of your damn mind,” Vasto hisses.

“That’s just how we play the game where I come from,” Robin places her hand to her heart in mock innocence. “Now,” she leans forward to Olivia, suddenly serious, “you and I have some things to discuss about all of the money you’re gonna make me, and you—” she waves Vasto off dismissively “—you can run along back to your investments and give me a call when you’re _serious_ about this.”

Robin stands up with an air of finality and walks to the door, motioning for Olivia to follow.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” Vasto sneers after them.

“No, that’s how it is,” Robin replies matter-of-factly. “After you, Miss Lottie.”

Olivia gives Vasto a sympathetic glance before she and Robin leave the office. Lon’qu leans against the wall outside waiting. He looks directly at Vasto, the two men’s eyes meeting.

“R-remember what I told you,” Olivia coaches in a whisper. “Make that connection.”

Lon’qu makes the smallest of grunts to let her know he’s received the message.

“What are you looking at?” Vasto snaps.

“It’s just…” Lon’qu softens his voice. “You’re not the first person to make that face after wrangling with Igrene Thoron.”

“How do you even work with that bitch?” Vasto nearly shouts. Olivia’s jaw locks and her grip on Robin’s arm tightens.

“It’s fine,” Robin pats her hand reassuringly.

“She’s normally not in such a sour mood,” Lon’qu admits. Olivia clears her throat to prompt him to continue when the silence stretches just a little too long. “There’s just this big deal coming up and…” He trails off before shaking his head. “I’m sorry she wouldn’t sell your horse back.”

“No,” Vasto scoffs. “There’s more than one way to play this game. I have my own backup plans. The current setup is so stuck in the past with cheap horses and cheap rates for trainers. It’s the perfect setup for big talkers like Igrene Thoron to take control. But me and some buddies have a plan to set up investments on horses.”

“Investments?”

“Yeah. The same way you’d invest in stocks. It’d be child’s play to modernize this game. Then bitches that think they’re on top like Igrene Thoron and her kind can scramble around when the big money starts flying over. They won’t be able to keep up. So consider this a friendly warning. Get in on this now or get the hell out of my way, because I don’t take prisoners.”

Vasto practically shoves his card into Lon’qu’s hands before he stalks out. Lon’qu stands there a couple minutes to make sure he’s gone.

“Did you get all that?”

“Yeah,” Robin walks back, Olivia at her side. “Nice job, Lon’qu.”

“We weren’t able to stall Jakob for long,” Gaius reports.

“That’s fine,” Robin takes it all in stride. “We’ve got we need from Vasto.”

“How does him being a big meanie help us?” Nowi asks. Robin can practically hear her face scrunched up.

“Still working on that part.”

“You don’t have a plan yet?” Nowi presses, her high pitch bordering on a squeak over the coms.

“I have plenty. The problem is finding one that Jakob won’t see through in an instant.”

“There’s no way to avoid him?” Lon’qu asks.

“Too late for that now.” Robin shakes her head grimly. “As soon as he discovered my involvement his entire purpose here shifted. This is his perfect way of proving himself the right man to take over the job I left.”

“I d-don’t think it’s quite that,” Olivia hesitates. She looks away at once at Robin’s questioning look. “I—I’ve always gotten the… the f-feeling that there’s more going on with him.”

“It probably comes with the mysterious past shtick that he runs with.” Robin shrugs. “That’s a topic for another time. Now, I’ve got to think.”

“Well,” Olivia takes a long pause, deep in thought. “What do we know about him?”

“Besides the fact that he’s a diabolical genius?” Gaius cuts in.

“Robin,” Olivia continues with more strength, following her thought to its conclusion. “You’ve known him since he started working at Excellus. Is there _anything_ you know—anything from his past that could serve as… a clue, or… s-something!”

Robin furrows her brow, still coming up blank. Jakob had never been one to open up and talk about his past. Back in the day, Robin was one of the closest to Jakob, and she still knew precious little about him.

“Don’t sweat it, Bubbles,” Gaius appears in the stable with Nowi. They all walk over to meet in the middle. “Maybe you need to look at it from another angle. Jakob doesn’t seem the mushy sort to be hiding a secret like an attachment to a long lost cousin or something.”

Robin immediately fixes her stare on Gaius. Unnerved, he glances around at everyone else.

“What’s wrong? Is something on my face?”

“Chocolate, but that’s beside the point,” Robin waves him off. “A long lost cousin…?”

“I know that face,” Olivia whispers as Robin’s entire countenance brightens.

“A long lost heir,” Robin announces with triumph.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” Lon’qu asks, immediately cutting to the chase.

“The long lost heir?” Olivia repeats. “O-oh! That’s… that’s a classic.”

“But how does that work?” Nowi looks back and forth between Robin and Olivia. “That’s where you pose as a long lost member of a royal family right?”

“That’s right,” Robin confirms.

“But what does that have to do with this?” Nowi whines.

“In the original form of the con, nothing at all. But this whole thing is about the horses.”

“So…?” Nowi trails off pointedly, still awaiting a clear answer.

“Oh…” Gaius’s face lights up as he catches on. “Bubbles, you sly fox.”

“What? What?” Nowi wheels on Gaius, tugging at his sleeve.

“The long lost heir is all about a claim that you’re part of a particular royal bloodline,” Gaius explains. “Horses bred for racing are all about bloodlines too.”

“I’m impressed you know about that,” Robin admits.

“Yeah, well… you pick up things here and there,” Gaius grins. There’s a flicker for an instant, but it’s too fleeting for Robin to hazard any guesses as to what it means.

“Of course,” Robin relents.

“So we pose a _horse_ as the lost heir?” Nowi sounds skeptical.

“Exactly,” Robin starts walking back out of the stables, the others falling into step around her. “We’ll pose Luna as our equine royalty, then use him to sell Vasto the greatest horse that never lived.”

“What do you need from us?” Lon’qu asks from behind her.

“Well, first thing’s first. Nowi, I’m going to need you to do some hacking for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WHEEZES* I AM ALIVE, I SWEAR. Between all of the shenanigans that my life has become lately, writing has been difficult to squish in. There's two more chapters to come for this arc, but after that, I can't say for sure how long it will be before I can have anymore ready. Wish me luck haha TuT


	8. The Bait

“Done already?” Robin looks up in surprise at Nowi’s enthusiastic nods.

“Yep! The security on their database is nothing. The recordkeeping for all of the bloodlines is really organized, so this should be easy.”

“Good. All of those numbers are the forms of identification for the horses that can be scanned from microchips on a horse’s neck.”

“Ew,” Nowi shudders.

“What you need to do,” Robin soldiers on despite the interruption, “is attach a record of a fake horse from a great bloodline to Luna’s microchip number.”

“Easy peasy,” Nowi replies, bending back over the keys.

“What do we do about Luna though?” Gaius asks, sprawled out on the hotel bed with his feet by the pillows. “It’s easy enough to cover up the white spots on the outside to make him look different, but his lungs are still recovering from the fire. There’s no way he can run without that showing.”

“Ah,” Robin deflates a little, sitting heavily down on the bed. “Give me a second.”

“There’s plenty of horses here,” Lon’qu cuts in from his spot leaning against the wall. “Just use another one.”

“You mean steal another actual championship racehorse to make the first horse look like a true championship racehorse?” Robin says slowly, spinning the idea around in her head. A grin slowly spreads across her face. “That’s good. Even better, actually.”

“But what about Luna?” Nowi looks up from her laptop. “Am I still changing his microchip number?”

“Hold off on that for now. In the meantime, Gaius, I’m going to need you to take a drive to the airport. There’s some important people for you to pick up.” Robin turns her attention to the minibar where Olivia perches on top of a stool. “And Olivia?”

“Y-yes?” Olivia snaps to attention, nearly falling off the stool in the process.

“Would you mind breaking out another character?”

“Which one did you have in mind…?”

 

* * *

 

Swift Wing’s trainer leans against the fence, watching one of the horses nearby slowly nose along, pausing every step or so for a few mouthfuls of green grass.

“Excuse me?” a sharp voice calls out from the stable, startling him out of his thoughts.

A smartly dressed woman with a buttoned up blouse, pencil skirt, and pink hair in a bun steps out, immediately looking relieved as she catches his eye.

“Nina Walker. Would you be Swift Wing’s trainer?” she says, seizing his hand in a firm but swift handshake.

“I would,” the trainer replies, not bothering to hide his confusion. “Is there something I can help you with, or…?

“We’re all set to go whenever you’re ready, so—”

“Go? Go where?”

“Where?” Olivia repeats with a bit of a laugh. “To the interview. You _are_ ready aren’t you? My office has been calling you all day about the interview with _Sports Illustrated_.”

“Calls? But I haven’t…”

“Oh yes you have,” Nowi snickers, filling the trainer’s inbox with over a dozen missed calls with only a few keystrokes. She turns to Robin with a knowing smile. “You’d be surprised how easy it is to hack into calls and voicemails. We live in the digital age—or, as I like to call it, the Nowi Age!”

“Damn,” the trainer mutters as he looks at his phone, opening up his list of missed calls. “I’m sorry about that, ma’am. I don’t know what happened.”

“Listen, the reporter’s going to be at the club by the racetrack any second now. You’d better—”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you,” Olivia calls after him as the trainer immediately sets off. “Hopefully they aren’t late, but if they are, it would be lovely if you could wait half an hour. Maybe an hour, actually. They _are_ taking public transit.” She puts her hand to her ear once the trainer is out of sight. “You’re clear, Lon’qu.”

Olivia nearly jumps out of her skin as Lon’qu sneaks past her silently, jogging over to the opposite stable. He takes a moment to look around before he goes inside.

“I’m on my way back now,” Gaius reports. “A little behind schedule though. This woman is taking an excessively long bathroom break.”

“And anyone see any sign of Jakob yet?”

“Clear so far,” Olivia reports nervously. “I w-would almost prefer seeing him to n-not knowing…”

“Well, he’s got his own game to play,” Robin replies easily. “Meet me back at the hotel. We can head over to the jockey club to wait for Gaius.”

“Okay,” Olivia takes a deep breath, shaking off the shadow of Jakob looming over them.

 

* * *

 

Olivia, as it turns out, can speak fluent Chon’sinese. After driving to the airport and picking up a couple having just flown in from Chon’sin, Gaius drove them down to the Jockey Club to leave in Robin and Olivia’s care. Robin can do nothing but smile and nod while Olivia speaks to the excited couple.

“Still no sign of Jakob?” Robin asks in an undertone as she walks away for a few moments over to where Nowi waits further down the fence of the pen.

Nowi, eager to blend in as a racegoer, sports a dress with the sort of loud pattern that Robin imagines only Nowi can love. Although Olivia’s large hat from the day before rests securely on Nowi’s head, she’s already eyeing Olivia’s newest yellow sunhat.

“Still clear,” Gaius reports.

Robin pauses, focusing on Vasto’s voice through Lon’qu’s com.

“So what is it you wanted me to come out here for?” Vasto says, clipped and snappy.

“Something that will help us both,” Lon’qu replies with the patience of a saint. “Are you familiar with the Chon’sin Jockey Club?”

“Yeah,” Vasto responds, his tone suggesting he’d like to know why it matters. “There was word going around that their president wanted to start a hedge fund for the horses. Ended up being entirely useless during that civil war they had a few years back.”

“Nine years,” Lon’qu corrects him quietly.

“Yeah, that,” Vasto doesn’t pick up the change in Lon’qu’s tone. “In the end, all six hundred horses with the best bloodlines in the world are killed, and not a single insurance payoff to show for all the trouble.”

“No.”

Vasto looks over to Lon’qu in confusion.

“Five hundred and ninety-nine horses were killed,” Lon’qu corrects him again.

“What are you talking about?”

“Look,” Lon’qu points out to the practice track right as the single horse and rider shoot off. He pulls out a stopwatch from his pocket. They watch as the horse makes quick work of the lap, hooves kicking up dirt with each powerful stride. Lon’qu holds the stopwatch out for Vasto to see the time. “This is the six hundredth horse. He’s got a time beating all the derby winners of the past decade and then some.”

Vasto watches more closely now, not bothering to disguise his interest.

“He’s called Sol Achaeus,” Lon’qu continues. “He was born just a month before the others were all slaughtered. His youth and small size gave the owners a chance to have him discreetly smuggled out of harm’s way. That’s them right there.”

Vasto eyes follow to where Lon’qu points. His eyes narrow all the more as he sees the Chon’sinese couple shaking hands with Robin and Olivia in turn.

“There could still be problems if they’re found out. The horse could be killed or forcibly removed from their custody, so the original owners are in a rush to have him sold.”

“This is Thoron’s big deal then?”

“Yeah. And she’s getting him for only a fraction of what he’s worth.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Vasto sets his jaw as he climbs into the golf cart Lon’qu drove them up in. “I want to take a closer look at that horse.”

“Sure thing.”

Lon’qu drives them over to the track where horse and rider are taking a short breather. Lon’qu flags the rider down, allowing Vasto to take a closer look. While the rider wanders off for a moment to retrieve a water bottle, leaving the horse for Lon’qu to temporarily watch, he wastes no time in pulling up the scanner as soon as he and Vasto are alone.

“Pull up the IFHA website,” Lon’qu instructs, nodding to Vasto’s phone. “They hold records for the bloodlines of every registered thoroughbred horse.” Lon’qu holds up the scanner for Vasto to read even as the device automatically reads it aloud: _6-2-5-0-1-5_. “Search this number.”

Vasto whistles at the background that pops up.

“You can’t be serious,” he says, though there’s a wide smile on his face. “A descendant of Secretariat? _The_ Secretariat?”

“If you want to start a franchise, you couldn’t find a better horse.”

Vasto’s eyes light up with figurative dollar signs as he pictures far more literal ones.

“Alright, Olivia, they’re coming to you,” Robin instructs. “Nowi, what did you find on Vasto’s investor group?”

“There’s six guys including Vasto,” Nowi pauses to push her hat back away from her eyes. “They all match Vasto at two million dollars. And here’s the icing on the cake—they put Vasto in charge.”

“Splendid,” Robin grins. “That’s twelve million dollars coming right at you, Olivia.”

Vasto makes a beeline for Olivia where she still stands by the fence with the two tourists. Lon’qu follows behind, giving a quick glance to Robin and Nowi standing further along the fence pretending to be engrossed in their own conversation.

“Mr. Vasto!” Olivia coos as they hop the fence. “How lovely to see you again. And Abel! A pleasure.”

“I need to talk to you,” Vasto says urgently.

“I’m afraid it’ll have to wait—business as usual,” Olivia laughs. “Perhaps after we get this horse safely into his new stable.”

“It’s about that,” Vasto continues, unperturbed. He looks directly at the pleasantly smiling couple. “I want to buy your horse.”

“I’m afraid you’re a little late for that,” Olivia says, halfway between amused and apologetic. “Ms. Thoron already bought this horse for eleven million dollars.”

“I can get you twelve by the end of tomorrow,” Vasto smirks.

“Oh…” Olivia glances around a moment before she turns to the couple. She says something to them that Robin—and thankfully, Vasto—can’t understand. Lon’qu clears his throat pointedly in an attempt to cover his snort of laughter. While Nowi pulls up her phone in an attempt to translate the conversation into Google, the couple both laugh, answering whatever question Olivia asked. Olivia smiles as she glances slyly over at Vasto. “If you can offer them twelve million tomorrow, then you have yourself a deal.”

“Great. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Olivia gives him a charming smile before the woman begins speaking rather enthusiastically.

“Oh,” Olivia turns back to Vasto with a laugh. “In Chon’sin, it’s a rather common practice to take a picture as a record for a transferal of property. Would you mind terribly…?”

“Anything to cement the deal,” Vasto replies with just a little more seduction than is necessary.

“Anything to get in your pants,” Gaius breaks out his Vasto impression again.

“Gaius,” Robin coughs out in warning.

“Okay, okay,” Gaius relents. “It’s just getting boring over here.”

“Say cheese!” Olivia instructs, then snaps the picture. As the couple step away to rejoin Robin and Nowi, she shakes hands with Vasto. “I suppose we’ll see each other again tomorrow then.”

“It’s a date,” Vasto winks. He kisses Olivia’s hand before finally departing. Olivia hastily wipes at the back of her hand with a handkerchief pulled out from her pocket once he’s out of view.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road!” Nowi cheers as the couple come to a stop in front of them.

The woman hesitates, looking back over to the stable. She says a few words, leaving Nowi to look around helplessly for Olivia and Lon’qu, both still a stretch away further down the fence.

“Oh, do you need the bathroom?” Robin says at once.

“You can understand Chon’sinese?” Nowi asks, impressed.

“No. But I do know the look of someone who needs to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, right. The mom thing.” Nowi claps her hands together. “Right this way then, ma’am!”

The woman follows Nowi gratefully to the nearest bathroom.

“I’ll wait right here for you so I can lead you back to the car!” Nowi calls after her as the woman already heads inside.

She’s already digging the camera back out as she turns the corner.

“I have your camera,” she says, still in her native tongue, holding it out to the tall man in front of her.

“Ah, thank you,” Jakob responds in Chon’sinese as well, trading his camera back for a weighty stack of bills. He holds it up to view the footage. As requested, Robin and Olivia are caught on the video. The others fail to make an appearance, but Jakob shrugs it off. He smiles as he turns to the picture of Vasto between the couple, the horse in the background. “You’ve done wonderfully.”

“Thank you!” the woman chirps, then turns around to rejoin Nowi outside.

Jakob smiles to himself.

 

* * *

 

Robin sits alone in the dark of one of Jockey Club rooms, only a single dim lamp in the corner providing any light. Something told her by Olivia’s discreet glances that she intended to inquire about Robin’s feelings as soon as they both returned to the hotel, and Robin had no intention to do so if she could avoid it. The bourbon doesn’t even burn anymore as it washes down her throat, blurring the memory of last night’s recurring nightmare.

Robin doesn’t even look up when the door opens.

“You’re still drinking, I see,” Jakob notes, walking in leisurely. “Old habits, I suppose.”

Robin takes another pointed sip.

“You drank yourself out of a job, out of a comfortable house, a happy marriage…”

“Keep going,” Robin says, her voice flat. “I’m sure there’s a point somewhere that you’re getting to.”

“It just seems a shame, considering how much you didn’t want to become your father.”

“I’m not perfect, but I’m hardly my father,” Robin replies, the edge in her voice softened by the last few glasses of bourbon. Still, she’s grateful that she’s at least not slurring.

“Really?” Jakob asks incredulously, unconvinced. “Look at yourself. You’ve become a common criminal.”

“Common?” Robin repeats. “That’s cold of you, Jakob.”

“I spoke to my client tonight,” Jakob says conversationally as Robin takes another long sip. “Would you like to know what I told him?”

“I already do. You didn’t tell him anything. And why would you? You don’t have any proof on whether or not Vasto started the fire, or you’d already be gone. You care much more about the quality of your work and helping the company avoid a two million dollar payout than sticking it to me.”

Jakob watches Robin silently as she rises from her chair, setting her glass on the desk off to the side. She crosses her arms over her chest as she looks him in the eyes.

“No, I figure you’re going to do what you always do—what _I_ always did. Give the client just enough rope, and only just, to let him hang himself.”

“Don’t be so sure, Robin. This time the rope just might have room for two.”

Jakob leaves without a backward glance. Robin eyes the last of the bourbon a moment longer before she tears herself away. If she lets herself get too smashed to walk back to the hotel Olivia will take it upon herself to become Robin’s personal therapist. Throwing her coat, sloppily on over her shoulders, Robin trudges out. By the time she finally makes it to the hotel, exhaustion settles in. Robin prefers that. If she’s too tired, she can’t seem to get caught in the same dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK, FRIENDS! I have a bit of breathing room again, but I'm going to back to the breakneck pace as the holidays start ramping up, so here's hoping I can get back on top of this soon.  
> Also, fun fact: Secretariat was a real racing horse and arguably the most well known and biggest name in the business. Some of the records that he set are still yet to be broken to this day.


	9. And Switch

“Woah, woah, woah!” Nowi says vigorously, shaking both her head and arms. “That’s not going to happen. I can’t actually change the numbers on the chips themselves.”

“Isn’t that what you did before?” Robin asks, somewhat blearily, the aspirin yet to kick in. There was no note as to who left it along with a glass of water on her nightstand that morning, but she ranks Lon’qu as the most likely suspect. He and Olivia are sitting with Robin and Nowi around a table outside a bed and breakfast, though Lon’qu has his chair pulled out a little farther than necessary to keep some distance between him and the three women.

“Not exactly,” Nowi continues, oblivious to the effect the pitch of her voice has on Robin’s headache. “I faked the information on the database. If Vasto scans the chip and notices it’s not the same one from before, the whole plan goes up in smoke!”

“That just might happen either way,” Gaius grimaces as he appears suddenly behind Robin, plopping himself unceremoniously into a chair he pulls up from the next table over. “Swift Wing’s been driven off to a stud farm now that the current races are done. Who knows when he’ll be sent back.”

“Not good,” Robin frowns, pushing her unfinished plate of waffles over to Gaius before he can even ask for them. “This plan can’t work without Swift Wing… Vasto’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I don’t think even Olivia can convince him to buy an empty horse trailer for twelve million dollars. Hmm…”

“D-do we need a-another change of plans?” Olivia asks shakily.

“No. We’ll just have to stall him for now.”

“This is getting too risky,” Lon’qu says from across the table.

“I know,” Robin replies apologetically. “But I’m going to have to ask you to trust me again. If things get too hot, I’ll pull the plug and get us out of here. Until then, this thing isn’t over.”

Lon’qu looks at Robin for a moment in silence before he grunts and looks down at his coffee instead.

“First, we need to get Swift Wing. Cordelia can probably provide us with a trailer. I’m entrusting that to you three. Olivia and I will keep them busy while you get Swift Wing and bring him back.”

Gaius looks up with worry as everyone stands up. He shovels the last of the waffles into his mouth and the extra containers of fake maple syrup into his pockets before following after the rest of the team.

 

* * *

 

“You didn’t have to come with us, you know,” Gaius reminds Cordelia, who sits stubbornly in the driver’s seat, her mouth set in a hard line.

“It’s my trailer, and none of you are probably used to driving while dragging one behind you,” Cordelia replies, her voice somewhat tense. “Besides, I want to know exactly what’s going on.”

“Does what we do bother you?” Gaius asks innocently.

“I’m…” Cordelia sighs heavily, distracting herself with turning on the truck’s blinker for the turn much earlier than actually needed. “I feel like I should.”

“Why should you?” Nowi looks up from her phone, absentmindedly blowing at a lock of hair that escaped her ponytail and now dangles in front of her eyes. “We’re doing this to help you guys!”

“I know,” Cordelia sighs again. “This is just so odd. I mean, people that break the law are supposed to be the bad guys. Yet here you are, helping people in need.”

“Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys,” Gaius shrugs as Cordelia takes a turn down a long dirt drive. Nowi plasters her nose against the glass to watch the horses out in the pasture. “We don’t get held back by rules and loopholes.”

“I wouldn’t have believed you before, but maybe there’s some truth in that,” Cordelia admits, begrudging though she is.

“Ooh, that one’s so pretty!” Nowi pokes Gaius’s arm repeatedly while pointing with her free hand. “Do you think they’d be okay with me riding that one? I’ve got the hat for it and everything!”

“You like horses?” Cordelia asks politely. “If this morally ambiguous plan of Robin’s works and we get Luna back, you’re more than welcome to ride him.”

“Oh,” Nowi’s face clouds over for an instant before it snaps back to its usual optimism. “Oh, I don’t know the first thing about riding a horse. I like thinking about it though! It could be tons of fun to learn!”

“You haven’t ridden before?”

“I grew up in the middle of the city,” Nowi replies. “And there’s not much room in the foster care system’s budget for trips to horse farms.”

Nowi immediately buries her nose in her phone before anyone can say anything else. Only a few seconds longer, and Cordelia stops the truck. Lon’qu opens the passenger door to jump out before she can even finish putting it in park.

“Don’t mind him,” Gaius speaks up in a clear attempt to push away the awkward atmosphere beginning to reign amongst them. “He gets antsy around ladies.”

Cordelia gives him a forced smile, but immediately gets to business, leading them up to one of the stables.

“He should be in here, but…” she trails off, eyeing the lock.

“This shouldn’t be a problem,” Gaius steps forward, making a show of pushing up his sleeves.

“No,” Lon’qu cuts in, holding up his arm to stop Gaius from going any farther. “This needs to be done without anyone noticing. You messing with this lock doesn’t help with that. We’re too out in the open where anyone could see.” He looks around, eyes narrowing as he picks out any possible sources of complications.

“Okay,” Gaius shakes it off, rolling his shoulders. “My other option is probably an air vent of some sort around the back. Be back in a sec.”

He jogs off around the building. Cordelia leans over to the side to watch him, her brows furrowed as he disappears from sight.

“Don’t worry!” Nowi lightly punches Cordelia’s arm. Cordelia flinches at the sudden contact, but Nowi seems not to mind or notice. “Gaius knows what he’s doing!”

“I’m in,” Gaius reports from over the coms. “And it’s tighter than I’d like, I’ll have you know. This would have been much easier if you’d just let me go in through the front door.”

“It’d be easier if you didn’t let yourself go with all those sweets,” Lon’qu replies.

“That’s a low blow,” Gaius retorts just before he stops above the right stall, then opens the grate to drop through.

The horse snorts and jerks his head, startled by a man dropping from the ceiling.

“Hey,” Gaius says quietly, holding his hands out at his sides. “You’re fine, buddy.”

“Gaius, are you in?” Nowi asks.

“Yeah, just give me a minute. I don’t want to spook this guy.”

“We don’t have time for you to play horse whisperer,” Lon’qu cuts in.

“Clearly you two have never dealt with horses before,” Gaius whispers furiously. He gently reaches out to scratch Swift Wing’s nose before slowly slipping the lead around his neck.

The door to the stable opens a couple minutes later, Gaius leading the horse behind him. He hands the lead to Cordelia, who walks Swift Wing into the trailer. She claps her hands together once the doors are shut, giving Gaius an impressed look.

“Have you worked with horses before?”

“I had a friend. She was something of an equestrian back then.”

“A friend?” Nowi leans forward, batting her eyelashes.

“And we’ll leave it at that,” Gaius adds for good measure, climbing back into the truck for the long ride back.

“Oh, I can’t just leave something like that!” Nowi protests, scooting up next to him in the back seats.

“Why don’t you play with your phone instead?” Gaius waves her off.

“Janaff can wait,” Nowi waves back.

“Okay, kid. I have in my hand three toffees. If you promise to shut up about this, I will let you have the toffees.”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Nowi grabs for them at once, but Gaius holds them out of her reach. The truck rumbles back down the drive as Cordelia starts their ride back.

“Ah, you haven’t promised yet!” Gaius tuts, holding Nowi back with his free hand.

“Okay, okay! I promise not to ask about your mystery friend!”

“Why should I trust you though?” Gaius says thoughtfully. “We _are_ thieves after all.”

“Just give her the toffees so we can shut her up,” Lon’qu snaps, already tired of the ride over and Nowi’s attempts at serenading them with _Journey’s_ entire discography.

“Please,” Cordelia adds.

“You’re all meanies.” Nowi sticks out her tongue.

“Shake on it, kid.”

Gaius and Nowi exchange a business-like shake, then Gaius holds out the toffees. Nowi pops them all in her mouth at once as Cordelia turns back onto the highway.

 

* * *

 

“I have to say, Mr. Vasto, that meeting with you has been one of the best things to happen to me in a while,” Olivia says, smooth as silk. “I’ve made my friends very happy with this sale.”

“You’ve certainly made me happy,” Vasto replies.

Robin stands alone in one of the unused offices off to the side, listening to the conversation. Olivia’s heavy handed flirting has succeeded in capturing Vasto’s attention, turning it away from more important matters, such as where she leads him. He only just notices as Robin thinks it.

“Hey, are you sure this is the right way?”

“Please, Mr. Vasto,” Olivia laughs, casting a light and fleeting touch on his arm. “I know these stables like the back of my hand. They’re a little large, so I was just taking a shortcut.”

“We’re pulling in now,” Lon’qu alerts them.

“Good. Lon’qu, get Swift Wing over to Vasto and Olivia. Gaius and Nowi, you know what to do.”

“Aye aye, Boss Lady!” Nowi salutes. Cordelia, not privy to the conversation going on in their ears, watches their reactions with mild interest.

“Let’s not keep Abel waiting,” Olivia smiles after a couple more minutes have passed, leading Vasto out one of the side doors where Lon’qu is walking the horse out of the trailer.

“There he is,” Vasto announces, a dark glint in his eye. “The horse of the hour!” He pulls the scanner out from his jacket pocket and hands it over to Lon’qu. “Would you mind doing the honors? I’d like to keep my bases covered.”

“Sure,” Lon’qu mutters. He holds the scanner up to the horse’s neck.

“ _6-2-5-0-1-5,_ ” the scanner intones in its dry, computerized voice.

“It checks out.”

“Speaking of checks,” Olivia steps in. “There’s the small matter of that twelve million dollars.”

Vasto taps at his phone a few times before holding it up to show Olivia the funds just transferred to her bank account. Olivia’s own phone tweets in notification of the transferal.

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Vasto,” Olivia grins coquettishly, shaking his hand.

“The pleasure has been all mine,” Vasto replies before turning to Lon’qu with a far sterner expression. “Let’s get my horse into its stable then.”

Lon’qu nods, walking the horse past them back inside.

“It sounds like that’s my cue to leave,” Olivia remarks. “I do hope your investor friends are pleased.”

“They will be,” Vasto chuckles nastily. “Afterwards, do you think…?”

Olivia is nowhere to be seen when he turns back around. Vasto looks around curiously for a few moments before he shrugs it off to catch up with Lon’qu. Vasto looks over him smugly as Lon’qu walks the horse into the stall then closes the door shut, leaving the horse out of sight. Vasto claps his hands together as he immediately sets out to meet the group that awaits him at the entrance.

The group of sharply dressed men all look up as Vasto appears, holding the door open for them. Jakob offers Vasto an appraising look as he passes him to get inside, not relenting it even when Vasto closes the door then speed walks to be at the head of the column, guiding the seven men through the large maze of a stable. Beside Vasto’s five fellow investors, Jakob has Swift Wing’s trainer at his side. In his excitement, Vasto hardly notices.

“We have just secured ourselves a champion,” Vasto brags, pausing for dramatic effect once they reach the stall. “I’d like you all to meet Sol Achaeus.”

“Gentlemen, I hate to be the one to rain on your parade, but that is not Sol Achaeus,” Jakob cuts in, pointing to the door and what lies behind it. “And certainly not the lost heir of Secretariat.”

“What are you talking about?” Vasto snorts.

“That is Swift Wing,” Jakob clarifies.

Vasto rolls his eyes, opening the door and gesturing dramatically inside where a horse stands there calmly. Swift Wing’s trainer lets out a barking laugh.

“That ain’t Swift Wing.”

“Of course it’s not,” Vasto smiles wryly, pressing the new insurance information to Jakob’s chest. “That’s because this is Sol Achaeus.”

Jakob gives Vasto a wry smile of his own as he takes the folded paper, using his free hand to retrieve his scanner from his pocket with pointed care and holding it up to the horse’s neck.

“ _4-4-1-9-1-2,_ ” the scanner reports.

“There must be something wrong with your scanner,” Vasto shoves Jakob’s hand unceremoniously to the side and holds up his own. The same numbers stare back up at him as his own scanner repeats the dreaded digits. “What?! I just put this horse in here, this—”

“What’s going on, Vasto?” one of the investors demands.

“How should I know?” Vasto retorts. “I don’t know how this horse got in here!”

_“You’re clear,” Olivia whispered as she watched Vasto leave to fetch his associates._

_Gaius and Nowi jogged past her, Nowi using her large hat to hold a stack of signs._

_“I put him two stalls over,” Robin reminded them._

_“Time to pull a switch-a-roo!” Nowi cheered, taking down the stall number and name as Gaius did the same to the other. Nowi replaced ‘Sol Achaeus’ with ‘Speedy Janaff,’ high fiving Gaius as they traded places, putting up the new numbers and names._

“This is Luna,” Jakob says, the faintest hint of a laugh in his voice.

“That…” Vasto trails off as he tries to wrap his head around his current state of affairs. “This can’t be Luna. I lost Luna in a poker game.”

“Well,” Jakob chuckles humorously, glancing over Vasto’s new insurance paperwork. “It looks like you just bought him back. And you want him insured for twelve million dollars.” Jakob continues mercilessly as Vasto pales. “In the previous claim, you had this very same horse insured for three hundred thousand dollars. That, as I’m sure you know, is insurance fraud.” Jakob pauses to let this sink in. Judging by the deathly pallor of Vasto’s cheeks and the gritting of his teeth, it does just that. “I’m going to have to deny your claim on the fire. And if it’s not too forward to say so, I do believe you owe these gentlemen an explanation.”

Jakob smiles pleasantly as he passes the paperwork back into Vasto’s numb hands, then turns on his heel and leaves him with one confused horse trainer and five enraged investors.

“I don’t care about explanations,” one of the investors glares. “What you owe us is ten million dollars.”

“Hold on a second there!” Vasto shouts. “This—we’ll—we’ll get the money back!”

“Don’t start throwing ‘we’s at us. _You’re_ on the hook for fraud. You can pay the debt.”

“But… that’s…” Vasto licks his lips, eyes darting around helplessly as he searches for some way out of this. “Ten million is all I have left.”

“We’ll settle for that.”

Vasto runs his hand through his hair and kicks at the ground as the investors and horse trainer troop back out, leaving him alone. Luna stomps his foot impatiently, as if he’s telling Vasto that it’s time to leave. Cursing, he does so.

 

* * *

 

Sumia’s mouth hangs open as Robin drops a stack of bills at least a couple inches thick onto her desk. Cordelia watches over the proceedings just behind Sumia’s shoulder, trying to fight off a smile but failing to do so.

“This should be enough cash to have your stable repaired,” Robin explains as Sumia’s mouth opens and closes in an attempt to speak. “Twelve million more will be in your bank account in the hour. Oh, and most importantly…” Robin pauses as she checks a few pockets before coming up with the right one. She sets the napkin with Vasto’s signature down beside the cash. “Your first horse. Luna will be in good hands now.”

“H-how did you…?” Sumia manages at last, picking the napkin up like one would hold something fragile and precious. “Is this legal?”

Robin looks up at Cordelia with a smile. She smiles back.

“Of course. Because of the fraud, the last sale didn’t go through. Ownership of Luna then reverted back to the previous owner, which is now me. And now I’m giving him to you.”

“I…” Sumia sniffs loudly, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “Oh, what can I say? All of the ‘thank you’s in the world could never be enough for this!”

“Just take care of Luna,” Robin says kindly, rising from her seat. “That’s all the thanks we need.”

Sumia scurries around the desk, throwing her arms around Robin and squeezing with more strength than Robin originally suspected she had. Robin initially tenses, but relaxes, hugging Sumia back. Cordelia walks closer to shake Robin’s hand when Sumia finally releases her.

“Thank you so much, Robin,” Cordelia speaks sincerely. “We’ll have to name our next horse after you.”

Robin laughs, looking back where the rest of the team stands in a line by the wall watching. Robin feels her own heart grow softer at the looks of kindness they all send Sumia and Cordelia.

“It wasn’t me that did all of this,” Robin smiles, just a hint of pride sneaking its way into her voice. “I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without my team.”

“I suppose we’ll need to plan on getting many more horses for all of your names then,” Cordelia amends.

“Good luck to the both of you.” Robin gives them both one last smile.

Seeing that as the cue to go, the others file out. Gaius is the only one to remain behind, walking directly up to the two women as he digs around in his pockets for something. Robin watches in amusement as he pulls out a sugar cube.

“Hey, can you, uh… feed this to Luna for me?”

“It will be our pleasure,” Cordelia accepts it graciously.

Gaius meets Robin’s eyes for a moment as he slips past her in the doorway. His smile is almost shy. Robin, resisting the urge to chuckle, nods to Cordelia and Sumia, then closes the door.

 

* * *

 

It’s late when Robin is at last back in the comfort of her own home. The drizzle outside leaves specks of water dancing down the long windows as Robin slips out of her shoes and hangs her coat up beside the others on the rack. She notes that they have been tidied up, everything in neat rows.

Walking around through her kitchen to her living room, she pauses.

“That was a nice touch with the tourists and the camera,” Robin says to seemingly no one.

“Your team basically handed me that one,” Jakob says, stepping out from the shadows of the meeting room behind Robin. “It was sloppy to keep letting her out of your sights.”

“Hm,” Robin chuckles. “And bringing Swift Wing’s trainer really helped us wrap everything up nicely. Though it did make you look quite the fool in the process.”

Jakob chuckles back dryly.

“That paperwork you had Vasto sign also helped me save the company a massive amount of money in the payout,” he returns. With her back to him, Jakob doesn’t see her grimace. The tenseness of her shoulders is harder to hide. “You know better than anyone how much Excellus hates writing a check.”

Robin turns to look Jakob in the eye, her face pained, but steady.

“Robin, what happened to your son never should have happened,” Jakob continues more softly. “Not even Excellus himself can deny that the situation was terrible. …I read over the case.”

“Then you know that Excellus came to the wrong decision,” Robin says, a challenge in her voice.

“It’s not my place to say if it was wrong or right.”

“You never hesitated to tell me your opinion before.”

Jakob hesitates, his cool detachment wavering.

“It was a treatment that could have saved Morgan’s life,” Robin continues, trying to smother the emotion building up in her throat. “But Excellus wouldn’t pay for it. Because it was _experimental._ ”

“I know,” Jakob says quietly.

“Excellus let my son die. And I looked after that. Through other cases like ours. I’m not the first person to be screwed over. Corrupt corporations digging for more money is one thing, but beating down the little guy when he’s already on the ground… it’s too much. I couldn’t stay and have a hand in that.”

“You’re not wrong,” Jakob replies. Robin can hear anger start to slip through the cracks of his usual façade. “I hate Excellus, Robin. Do not mistake me.”

“Then why are you still there?”

Jakob hesitates again.

“There are some things that are more important to me. I need Excellus to get me where I need to be.”

Robin makes a displeased noise in the back of her throat, turning away from Jakob.

“What, you weren’t expecting me to drop everything and come and help you, were you?” Jakob asks. “What I’m doing is too important. I can’t let you get in the way of that, Robin.”

“What, by helping you?” Robin retorts, spinning back.

“You can’t help me with this little ‘above the law’ act.”

“I’ve never considered myself above the law.” Robin sets her jaw. “I like to think that I’m picking up where the law leaves off.”

“How arrogant,” Jakob scoffs.

“Look who’s talking.”

Jakob scoffs again, but has no argument for that.

“I’ve been screwed over too many times to place my trust in those with power,” Robin says, her voice wavering for just an instant.

“I won’t be so nice next time,” Jakob says at last.

“Neither will I.”

Jakob disappears back into the dark, leaving Robin alone in her apartment as the rain picks up outside. She wipes angrily at her eyes before the tears can even fall, walking quickly over to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle. She doesn’t bother with a glass, drinking the whiskey straight. Bottle in hand, she walks back to the living room to go up the stairs, flopping heavily down in her bed, careful not to spill a drop. She reaches for the drawer in her nightstand as she drinks, pausing for a moment to look at the pictures she’s retrieved.

Morgan had his father’s radiant smile and his mother’s love for adventure. Robin chokes back a sob as she gets to the picture at the bottom of the stack.

Morgan’s last birthday was in the hospital. As weak as he had grown, nothing could dampen his smile as he sat up in the hospital bed, proudly holding his birthday cake with five candles, surrounded by balloons and gifts from friends and family. The book Robin had gotten him about airplanes was tucked under his arm.

He’d always wanted to fly.

Robin sets the pictures back heavily onto the nightstand, grasping onto her bottle so hard that her knuckles turn white. She keeps drinking, trying to chase off the nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's another job done! Thank you so much for reading this far, and hopefully I'll be able to keep forging ahead and get some more updates out soon. Until then, you'll have to wait for the appearance of our newest client...


	10. Donnel

The young man fidgets in his seat, tugging at the collar of his shirt. There’s a stiff crispness to the light gray fabric to suggest that he’s never worn it before past the first ironing, the unease in his posture further ratifying Robin’s guess as this being a person attempting to be formal who has had little practice in doing so. His youth only serves to add further to the effect, sheepishly requesting water after Stahl had carded him, lowering the brim of his baseball hat to better cover the dusting of pink over his nose and cheeks.

“I prob’ly should’ve made an appointment ahead of time,” he says apologetically with a notable southern twang, fingers tapping nervously on the table.

“Don’t worry about it,” Robin replies kindly. She can feel Stahl watching just as he had a fortnight ago when Sumia and Cordelia were the ones seeking out Robin’s help, the latter with far less enthusiasm than the former. She continues to give the young man more time to pluck up his courage. “You did let me know ahead of time when you called this morning, and I happened to have an open afternoon, so it all worked out in the end. Besides, I’d hate to have you come all this way from Alabama for nothing.”

Robin _had_ been planning on staying in for a day of old movies and a bowl of popcorn, but this hardly warranted as important information to divulge.

“Yes’m. Thank you, ma’am,” the young man nods rapidly, falling back to etiquette drilled into his head from infancy.

“I don’t believe I ever caught your name.”

“Donny,” he supplies, immediately stumbling over himself to retract it. “Er, Donnel, I mean. Donnel Spangler.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Donnel.” Robin extends her hand.

Donnel looks at it nervously for just a moment before he realizes she means to shake. His own hand shoots out quickly to meet her, giving a couple enthusiastic shakes before he sets his hand awkwardly in his lap, not knowing what to do with it.

“Would you care to tell me what happened, Donnel?” Robin prompts, firm but kind.

“I’m sorry,” Donnel hesitates, unable to meet Robin’s eyes with his own. “Now that I’m here it just seems so hard to say it.”

“It’s okay. Take all the time you need.”

“That’s just the problem, ma’am,” Donnel says with more strength behind his words, finally matching Robin’s gaze. “We’re running out of time and I don’t know what can be done now.”

“You leave that part to me.” Robin pats Donnel’s hand reassuringly atop the table. “First I need to know everything you can tell me.”

“Okay.” Donnel nods to himself as he takes a deep breath.

* * *

 

“Ma, what’s going on?”

Donnel’s mother turned around as he stepped out through the front door to join them on the lawn. There was no way to not notice from how it creaked—the farm was old, showing its age as well as announcing it with every creak and groan.

“It’s your eviction notice,” one of the men provided nastily. A glitter of gold sparkled in his toothy grin.

“But that can’t be!” Donnel’s mother cried, brows furrowed as she wrung her hands in her apron. “There’s just no way… How could this have happened?”

“How about you talk to the new owners about that?” the gold-toothed man replied, voice sickly sweet with feigned innocence.

Right on cue, a car pulled up and parked in the drive. Three men stepped out in short order, surveying the area casually. Donnel turned to his mother for any clarification, but she didn’t look at him, keeping on a brave face despite the beads of sweat forming on her brow.

“I don’t understand,” Donnel whispered to her furiously, fists clenched to his sides.

“It sounds like you didn’t make your payments in time,” the gold-toothed man answered instead.

“But we did!” Donnel’s mother turned on him in a righteous fury as the three new arrivals watched with mild interest. “And after that they never even bothered to fix anything back up decent! The roof still leaks, floorboards are missing from the porch… I fired them, they shouldn’t be able—”

“Doesn’t matter.” With a shrug, the gold-toothed man twirled the house keys from their ring around one finger before he walked over to the oldest of the three men with slicked back auburn hair, beginning to gray, and tossed them into his waiting hands.

“Mr. Roddick!” Donnel’s mother called, putting on a brave face even as her voice wavered, hurrying over to the older man. “Please, you can’t do this! Where will we go?”

“I truly am sorry that it’s come to this, ma’am,” Mr. Roddick replied, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

Donnel watched in silent horror as Roddick pulled a piece of paper from his pocket folded unevenly into quarters. With no further discussion, he passed it along to Donnel’s mother before he and his two sons got back into their shiny SUV and drove off, the two men sent ahead getting into their own less expensive car to follow after them.

“Ma, we can’t let them get away with this!” Donnel took his mother’s free hand, the other holding the eviction notice shakily.

“There’s nothing that we can do, son.”

“No! No, I’ll—I’ll find help. Ma, I promise! I’ll leave right away!”

* * *

 

Donnel leans forward in his seat, his hands clasped together in a desperate plea.

“I’m still a little confused on the how of things, but Ma says that it’s all to do with some legal loophole they used once we’d fired them. We were trapped either way, losing all our money on workers that didn’t even fix anything. We’ve been living in hard times ever since my pa passed away—gods rest his soul—so we had to take one of those loans on the house.”

“An equity loan,” Robin provides.

“Yeah, that’s the one. There’s so much work to do just between the farm and my schooling, and Ma felt it’d be for the best if we hired contractors to work on the house for us so I wouldn’t have to give up on my learning… I wish that I had now. They took so long to do absolutely nothing, and the value of our house dropped.”

“In short, Roddick’s taken your house and property as collateral,” Robin sums up grimly.

“That’s right, ma’am.”

“Just Robin will do,” Robin says kindly.

“Miss Robin, the farm has been in our family for generations. It means everything to Ma. After Pa died… well, it’s the last thing she has from him that really matters ‘sides her wedding ring. I can’t let that dirty crook take it away from her like this!”

“And we won’t let her,” Robin assures him, resting her hand on top of his for a few seconds. “My team will make sure that your house is given back to you and your mother.”

“Thank you, ma’am—er, Miss Robin.”

“In the meantime, go back to your mother. My team and I will keep you apprised of our progress.”

Donnel nods helplessly as he murmurs more thanks, first to Robin, then to Stahl as he passes him at the bar. He pauses for a moment at the door, his fingers wrapped around the handle. Robin gives him a reassuring smile as she sits down on one of the barstools.

“They won’t get away with this, Donnel.”

Donnel smiles back, even if the twitch of his lips suggests less surety than Robin projects. Robin watches him leave, walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the glass before she turns back around to Stahl watching her. She pauses at his expression, almost not recognizing him without his usual sympathetic eyes.

“You look better than you have been,” Stahl notes. Robin can’t help but hear the sincerity. In all their limited interactions, she’s never seen even a hint of a mean bone in the man’s body.

“Just busier,” Robin replies, far more guarded than he. It is, after all, easier to look better when one drinks themselves silly only in the privacy of their own homes instead of in front of well-meaning bartenders like Stahl.

“It looks that way from the meetings you’ve been having here,” Stahl says knowingly. He quickly holds his hands up in an automatic response for one well versed in de-escalation. “Not that I eavesdrop on private conversations. But I can see it.”

Robin nods, absentmindedly tapping on the smooth wood of the bar with her fingers. She’d had no intention of making a secret of her new work, and she still doesn’t.

“If there’s anything I can do to help,” Stahl continues, “you can let me know. All you have to do is ask.”

Robin grins, looking up at that innocent smile. He’s been trying to crack this nut ever since the bar became Robin’s regular haunting grounds. She rests her elbow on the bar, leaning her head against her propped up hand.

“There _is_ something…”

Stahl’s eyes widen almost imperceptibly at Robin’s acceptance. Robin points lazily behind Stahl’s head before he can get too excited at his progress in befriending her.

“Could I just get the whole bottle to go? It seems I’ve got some work to get to.”

Stahl sighs, shaking his head with a wry smile.

“You could get in trouble drinking on the job,” he jokes wearily, but takes it down anyway.

“There’s perks to being your own boss,” Robin replies cheekily.

She hops off the barstool, taking her bottle and leaving with words of thanks to Stahl. There’s a shuffling from over her com as she steps out into the street, readjusting her scarf with her free hand to block out the crisp autumn chill in the air. Robin cringes as the very distinct sound of someone loudly chewing crunchy food echoes in her ear.

“Hey, I noticed your earpiece is gone from its bed,” Nowi announces from around a mouthful of potato chips. “Is this about the guy who called earlier with a job?”

“Yes. And you’d better not be eating those on the couch. You leave crumbs everywhere.”

There’s a pause as Nowi presumably moves to a different position than Robin’s couch.

“I’ll get to work on looking this guy up!” she deftly changes the subject.

“Good. I think the others are still around.” 

* * *

 

Robin shrugs off her coat, raising her eyebrows at the collection of people in her kitchen.

“You’d think you people didn’t have your own places to live the way I always find you in mine.”

Olivia opens her mouth to speak upon spotting the bottle clutched in Robin’s hand, but quickly shuts it.

“You’re the only one that actually keeps your cupboards stocked, so there you go,” Gaius shrugs, having been caught in the act of pulling food from her fridge when Robin walked in moments earlier. He unabashedly finishes constructing himself a sandwich even as Robin rolls her eyes to hide her amusement.

“I’ve got our briefing all ready to go whenever you are!” Nowi calls from the other room.

“Good,” Robin says, motioning the others to go on ahead as she pulls out a glass for her alcohol. Both glass and bottle hit the table without ceremony as she sinks into her seat in the other room. She can feel everyone but Gaius—who’s rather more interested in his sandwich—looking at her, so she waves Nowi on with her free hand as she pours her first glass. “Run it.”

“Okay,” Nowi hesitates for just a moment before she forges ahead, turning on the three screens with a swipe of her tablet. “Our target is a Mr. Roddick.” She gestures dramatically as the man himself appears on screen, sporting the classic greased back look one expects from a used car salesman, the graying hair and crow’s feet around his eyes betraying his age. “He’s a contractor, and as crooked as they come. He’s got construction contracts spread out over Alabama and some in neighboring states as well, most of them residential. And that ties into his really shady trick of earning his millions of dollars.”

“Robin,” Olivia whispers as Robin makes quick work of her first glass. “A-are you o-okay?”

“Fine,” Robin replies, more short than she intends to be.

“So what’s his deal then?” Gaius cuts in loudly, looking at Robin out of the corner of his eye. She nods gratefully. “How did he scam the Spanglers?”

“It’s actually pretty simple,” Nowi says, puffing out her chest. “He takes the contracts, then stretches them out by doing horrible work on the houses that doesn’t actually fix anything. After about a year or so, most people—Donny and his mom included—figure that after all this time and no progress, they’ll just cut their losses and the contract and not pay him anymore. That’s where Roddick gets people. He’s able to file for a contractor’s lien on the property because the work done, no matter how poor it is, isn’t being paid for. Then it’s all a matter of waiting until the family runs out of money, the bank forecloses, and Roddick steps up to take ownership of the house.”

“That’s just wrong,” Lon’qu rumbles, the muscles of his arms tightening as they’re crossed over his chest.

“Wrong, yes,” Robin agrees. “But still completely legal.”

“When I was looking up their history, I found out that Roddick’s been investigated before a few years ago, but the FBI could never find anything to really stick,” Nowi adds.

“Th-there’s got to be s- _some_ opening, i-isn’t there?” Olivia asks, fidgeting nervously with her cat sticker pen.

“I think there is,” Robin says vaguely before taking a long sip. “Nowi, what do you have on Roddick’s sons?”

“I was hoping you’d ask!” Nowi claps her hands together excitedly. “Roddick’s got his two sons in on the business—Norris and Murray.” Nowi swipes at the tablet and brings up pictures of two younger men, one sullen and the other much more enthusiastic. She points out the latter. “Murray is Roddick’s oldest son, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be inheriting the family business anytime soon. He’s the playboy of the family. Spends more time travelling the world doing crazy sports like jet skiing and snowboarding. The only authority he’s ever seemed to have is being a judge in a bikini competition.” She sticks out her tongue to clarify her own disgust.

“What about the little guy?” Lon’qu nods his head at the picture of the other son.

“He’s like his brother’s polar opposite. While Murray is all fun times, Norris is always working. Roddick is definitely the face of the company, but from what I could tell, Norris is the one doing all the actual work.”

“Hmm,” Robin leans back in her seat, squinting her eyes as she surveys Nowi’s carefully collected pictures. “We can’t underestimate them. They’ve already squeaked past a state investigation before and they’re covered by the law. Attacking them from the outside can be difficult.”

“I think I know where you’re going with this,” Olivia says quietly, even as her eyes keep flitting back to the bottle Robin absentmindedly taps against her own thigh.

“So you’re talking about striking from the inside?” Gaius finally speaks, wiping his fingers off on the front of his shirt. Robin resists the urge to go hunting for a napkin for him.

“A house divided against itself,” Lon’qu recites.

“That’s the idea,” Robin confirms, rising from her seat. She looks down to see her glass empty again, so she takes a swig straight from the bottle instead, ignoring Olivia’s flinching. “And Murray… he’s our weak link. Nowi, where is he now?”

“His recent activity looked like plane tickets to a ski resort.”

“Hmm…” Robin sets the bottle heavily on the table, looking to Olivia. “How familiar are you with Olympic sports?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!!! :D


	11. Two Brothers

“Lon’qu, are you in position?” Robin asks, sitting at the bar in the ski lodge trying to ignore the concerned looks Olivia shoots at every sip.

The cold chill of winter whistling outside provides a sizable amount of snow for the ski resort as the team spreads throughout the mountain building. Murray was easy enough to find hanging out by one of the fireplaces in one of the many rooms of the high-end lodge after a full morning of action on the slopes.

“Yeah,” Lon’qu reports back from outside, bundled up like a marshmallow to fend off the chill. As amusing as his aversion to the cold was, one glare was enough to make any of Gaius’s quips die before leaving his tongue.

“R-Robin?” Olivia says shakily, but with conviction, as she walks over to stand behind her. “A-are you in… the r-right frame of mind to d-do this?”

“Olivia, now is not the time for this discussion,” Robin replies, gritting her teeth, all too aware of the three other sets of ears privy to the conversation.

“I t-think that it’s the p-perfect time,” Olivia presses. “If… if you’re too distracted—”

“I’m not,” Robin retorts, even though she knows it’s not quite true. “Just run it how we planned.”

With something of an injured air, Robin slides off the barstool, taking her drink with her as she sits next to Nowi in a quiet corner away from any other patrons. Nowi looks up innocently from her laptop at Robin’s approach, like one trying to pretend she’d not just heard Olivia’s concerns. Olivia gives Robin one more frustrated look before she turns away, bringing her phone up to her ear and sliding into character, a thick journal tucked under her parka-clad arm.

“Now’s not the time to be getting cold feet!” she says in a heavy German accent as she walks past Murray, pausing for a moment with her back to him so that he notices the spandex pants under the coat. Robin automatically rolls her eyes out of reflex as Murray’s own zero in on Olivia’s curves under the tights. Olivia, in the zone, keeps talking as she absentmindedly sets her journal down on the table. “Tell him that I’ll be more than happy to speak to him later. We are all partners in this exciting opportunity! Yeah. Yeah. Just give me a second.”

Olivia walks away, leaving her journal behind, Murray watching her with undisguised interest.

“This guy is _too_ easy to hook,” Gaius notes with no small degree of disappointed wonder.

“That he is,” Robin agrees, watching Murray reach for the abandoned journal without a moment’s hesitation. “Do you have a Wikipedia page all set up, Nowi?”

“Yep!” Nowi chirps. “Just finished uploading all of the pictures now. I had to hunt for someone that was close to Olivia’s height first to Photoshop her in and that was—oh, is he looking her up now?”

“Looks like it,” Gaius says, watching Murray pull out his phone from another vantage point to search the name written on the front page of the journal.

Murray’s eyebrows raise approvingly as a smile spreads across his face.

“Something tells me our boy likes Miss Florina Enke, Olympic medalist in speed skating,” Robin says, smiling to herself.

“I like her hat,” Nowi adds, looking at Olivia and the formidable amount of white fluff resting atop waves of pink hair.

“Thanks,” Olivia replies in character as she sits at the bar.

“He’s on the move,” Robin reports, watching Murray close the journal back up before making a beeline for Olivia.

“Excuse me,” Murray cuts in, sitting right next to Olivia who turns to him in polite surprise. He holds out the journal with a charming smile. “I think you left this?”

“Oh! Oh my!” Olivia gasps, clutching the journal to her chest. “Thank you so much! My entire life’s work is documented in here!”

“Happy to help,” Murray continues, dialing up the charm. “And may I just say? It’s an honor to talk to someone as accomplished as you, Miss Enke.”

“Oh, you are too kind,” Olivia laughs, averting her eyes modestly.

“I’m such a fan of speed skating. Love everything about it. The speed, the adrenaline the…” Murray trails off for a moment as his eyes trail down the spandex stretched across Olivia’s legs and hips. “The costumes.”

Olivia laughs again as Gaius makes a gagging noise.

“Huh,” Olivia replies, more appraising than anything. “Please, call me Florina. And you?”

“Murray.”

“Murray…” Olivia repeats sweetly. “You sound like a man who knows what he likes.”

“Got that right!”

Olivia hums pleasantly, crossing her legs with slow care as she leans back in her seat.

“Do you partake in any sports yourself?”

“I’m down for everything,” Murray says as if it’s something intended to blow Olivia’s mind. “I’ve even judged competitions before.”

“Involving swimsuit models, sure,” Robin snorts, unimpressed.

“I’ve thought of starting up my own before,” Murray continues, caught up in his own excited boasting. “Something like a winter themed X Games built up in the mountains, but here’s the exciting part—when it’s done, it all gets taken down like it wasn’t there, just knocking it off the mountain. People would totally go for it.”

“Ja,” Olivia narrows her eyes ever so slightly, leaning forward like one fully interested. “You’ve certainly got _my_ attention.”

“Yeah?” Murray leans forward too.

“You know my partners and I just purchased this resort. We’ve been working on renovations that could spice the place up and an idea like yours… It would be a perfect fit for our relaunch.”

“You’re damn right it would be,” Murray laughs, Olivia joining in.

“Okay, Olivia,” Robin cuts in as Nowi pulls up the accounts on her laptop. “Bring it up, but slowly ease him in. They’ve only got a couple hundred thousand cash we can easily squeeze out of them. Gaius, now would be a good time to get in position.”

“On it, Bubbles.”

Gaius jogs off, putting on a nametag as he straightens his tie, walking through the ‘employee’s only’ door like one meant to be there.

“Do I do it now?” Nowi asks excitedly.

“Not just yet,” Robin holds up her hand. “Wait for my signal. You can get on the lift at any point now, Lon’qu, but be prepared to ride it a few times. Olivia needs time to work her magic.”

Lon’qu grunts in affirmation.

“Ja, it would work very nicely,” Olivia replies after her polite laughter ends. “Of course, you’d have to buy into our little group.”

“Ready to go on your call, Bubbles,” Gaius reports from the other side of the building, staring down the door of the manager’s office.

“Hold on for now, guys. Olivia could be at this for—”

“Okay, how about I write you a check for five hundred thousand?” Murray says, startling Robin to silence. Olivia does a double take as well, smiling blankly as she struggles to find the words past her surprise.

“Okay then,” Robin says at last. “Your partners would be delighted.”

“My partners would be delighted,” Olivia echoes, easing into a more natural smile. “And so am I.”

“Great,” Murray grins. “I’d like to see your management though, look over your plans.”

“Oh, of course. Would you like to go now?”

“Sure.”

“Splendid. The sooner you’re happy the sooner we can move things along.”

“Gaius, get in there,” Robin says hurriedly.

“This guy has got to be the easiest sucker I’ve ever robbed,” Gaius chuckles as he jogs down the hallway to rap smartly on the manager’s door. After the call to come in, he does so, approaching the desk with his hand offered up for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, sir. Hector Beil. I’m the representative from Sunny Day Resort Solutions.”

“Nice to meet you,” the manager replies, shaking Gaius’s hand despite his confusion. He glances down at his personal calendar to search for any record of an appointment, but Gaius gives him little time to look, flinging himself into a fluffy spiel about raising employee morale.

“Okay, Nowi,” Robin speaks over the two other conversations coming over through the coms, looking over at Nowi’s expectant grin. “You may now stop the lift.”

“Yay!” Nowi cheers, hacking into the lift system in short order and freezing it in place.

“Lon’qu, are you up for this?”

“Fine,” Lon’qu says grudgingly between his chattering teeth. The other person on the lift shouts in alarm as Lon’qu pretends to fall, gripping onto one of the bars as he allows himself to dangle from the carriage. “Help,” he calls halfheartedly.

Gaius nearly sighs aloud in relief as the manager receives the call not even a minute later.

“There’s someone—gods, is he alright? No, I’m on my way,” the manager sets the phone back down. “I’m sorry, but something’s just come up.”

“It’s alright, take your time,” Gaius smiles innocently. “I’ll be right here.”

“Hey,” Nowi giggles, tucking her feet up under her legs as she sits, “Lonkers? Just _hang_ in there.”

Lon’qu groans, hitting his forehead on the carriage he hangs from as the other person above him continues to panic on his behalf.

“Just give me a second longer, Twinkletoes,” Gaius mumbles as he removes the name tag, hurrying around the room to replace and cover all traces of it being another man’s office—covering papers and plans with their own, turning around family pictures, and replacing the name on the desk.

“Oh!” Olivia claps her hands together as she leads Murray along slowly, trying to buy Gaius more time. “Here is where we were going to have our Jacuzzis! And there our hot tubs! A spa inside the resort is the perfect way to unwind after a full day out on the slopes, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah,” Murray says, the tone of his face suggesting he can already picture Olivia stretched out comfortably in a hot tub.

Gaius is just setting a picture Nowi edited of him and Olivia standing together with a handful of medals in her hand on the desk when Olivia opens the door.

“Hector!” she exclaims as he shouts “Florina!”

Gaius leaps from the seat behind the desk and strides forward to embrace Olivia lightly, the two of them kissing each other’s cheeks.

“Hector,” Olivia coos as she steps back, hands clasped together excitedly. “This is Murray! He’s interested in joining our little group!”

“Wonderful!” Gaius reaches out his hand for Murray to shake.

“You know it, dude!” Murray cheers, brushing aside the proffered hand for a hug as enthusiastic as Olivia’s. Gaius gives Olivia a wide-eyed stare over Murray’s shoulder before he is finally released.

“Ha ha, yeah,” he replies weakly.

“As you can see,” Olivia steps in to give Gaius a moment to breathe, “we’ve already settled most of our physical changes here.” She gestures to the rolled out plans on the table of the floorplan, covered in a series of notes and sketches. “What do you think?”

“Might not hurt to add a dance floor on there,” Murray winks. Olivia laughs as Gaius smiles halfheartedly. “Man, this is exciting!”

“I’m glad that you’re impressed,” Olivia sashays over, running her hand up Murray’s arm to rest on his shoulder. “So what do you say? Feel comfortable enough to write that check now?”

“We’ll need to go to Alabama for that,” Murray replies happily, oblivious to the way Olivia’s and Gaius’s faces freeze.

“Alabama?” Gaius repeats, wooden.

“Yeah,” Murray continues easily. “My dad’s the one that writes the checks.”

“Oh,” Olivia says, unable to hide her disappointment entirely. “Alright then.”

“Hey, no biggie.” Murray shrugs, throwing one arm around Olivia’s shoulders and the other around Gaius’s. “My dad’s super cool. He’ll totally get how great this idea is.”

“Let’s go to Alabama then,” Robin says weakly.

“Good,” Lon’qu says, safely on the ground. “It’ll be warmer.”

“Already getting tickets!” Nowi chimes in.

“Let’s hope Roddick is as cool as Murray claims,” Robin says grimly.

* * *

 

“Dad!” Murray booms, nearly giving his dad a body slam with the weight he throws into the hug, the both of them pounding the other on the back. Olivia remains safely to the side, waiting patiently through their show of chest pounding and general bravado.

“And who’s this?” Roddick asks appraisingly, looking Olivia up and down like one would survey a juicy steak. “Another model?”

“Oh, Dad!” Murray cuts in for Olivia, leaning over slightly to speak in an undertone, though he doesn’t bother speaking quietly enough for Olivia to not hear clearly. “This is Florina Enke. The Olympic speed skater.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Roddick,” Olivia inserts smoothly, holding out her hand.

“And she’s French!” Roddick gasps upon hearing Olivia’s German accent. He takes her hand, placing a wet kiss on her knuckles. To her credit, Olivia doesn’t immediately wipe her hand off on her jacket.

“She’s here because we have an awesomely genius plan at her ski resort!” Murray presses excitedly.

“Hmm… Sit down,” Roddick instructs a little gruffly, ushering them over to the couch.

Olivia eases herself down onto the fake leather, smiling as Murray rests his arm on the back of the couch behind her head and shoulders. Roddick sits across from them in a cushy reclining chair, but he does not recline himself. He leans forward, forearms resting right above his knees.

“Okay, be prepared for your mind to be blown!” Murray exclaims, using the hand not on Olivia shoulder to gesticulate with his point, miming a miniature explosion with his fingers.

“By what? Your stupidity?” a new voice cuts in bitingly.

They all turn to look at Roddick’s second son, Norris, standing on the stairs, face already pulled into an expression of undisguised disgust.

“Come on, Norris!” Roddick says before Murray can retort. “Sit down here and listen to your brother’s plan first.”

Norris looks at his father, brother, then pauses longer on Olivia, disgust morphing into a fusion of confusion and resentment. With an incredibly long and loud sigh, he at last shuffles off of the stairs to sit in the chair beside Roddick’s. Murray gives Norris a sneer for just a second before he clears his throat pointedly, happy to be free of any more interruptions.

“We are going to throw a winter X games event to launch our new ski resort! We’ve just got to write Florina her check for five hundred grand to fund it.”

Olivia simply smiles as the hand on her shoulder gives a light squeeze at ‘our.’

“What sort of stupi—”

“I love it!” Roddick booms over his other son. “It’s creative ingenuity like that that built this company!”

“Or, you know, someone who actually works hard to keep things going,” Norris mutters bitterly.

Robin cringes as the earpiece suddenly gives off a grating screech in her ear. She glances over to Nowi at her side in the van outside, her face crinkled up in both pain and annoyance.

“What was that?” Robin whispers.

“I don’t know,” Nowi pouts. “Gaius, Lonky, did you get that?”

“Yeah, we did,” Gaius grimaces.

“Oh, stop whining!” Roddick shouts back inside, all of them completely oblivious to Olivia’s momentary discomfort as he shoves Norris’s arm. He turns to Murray with a much kinder response. “I fully support you. Norris, and go and write this lovely lady her check.”

“You’ve got to be—”

“Norris…” Roddick growls warningly.

Norris lets out a groaning sigh. Roddick nods, arms crossed over his chest with a very serious glare.

“I don’t get it,” Nowi throws her hands up in the air as she turns to Robin. “Our signal’s squeaky clean, but I can’t reach Olivia’s com now. There’s something else that’s just dominating our signal.”

“Something from inside,” Lon’qu notes. He and Gaius both look up in unison from their vantage point in the backyard.

“Can you guys get a transmitter or something up there? We need to be able to reach Olivia.”

“No problem, Bubbles.” Gaius strolls casually over to the house, dusting off the overalls of his gardener ensemble. “Hey, can I have a boost?”

Lon’qu nods, bending down and cupping his hands together. With a grunt, he hoists Gaius up once his foot is securely held. Only a second later and Gaius scrambles up. He chuckles as he opens the door to the upstairs office, the sliding door not even locked.

“Look, we want to make this happen,” Roddick gives Olivia a toothy grin back downstairs.

“We is a strong word,” Norris cuts in. “Speaking as the president of your company—”

“We want to make this happen,” Roddick repeats with more force. “Go and sign the checks for her.” He practically drags Norris out of his seat and pushes him forward.

“Fine,” Norris complies at last.

“You can go with him, if you want, honey,” Roddick grins again. “Tell him whatever it is you need.”

“Of course,” Olivia returns the crooked grin with a charming smile. She rises smoothly to follow after Norris, looking over her shoulder. “Thank you very much.”

Roddick nods his head at Olivia before turning to his son, not even waiting until Norris and Olivia made it to the stairs before announcing, “I like this one, son!”

“I don’t know what you see in him,” Norris says, far less impressed as he gives Olivia an incredulous look as soon as they’re out of sight at the top of the stairs.

“Oh, Murray?” Olivia smiles vaguely, a hint of a chuckle in her voice. “I see an opportunity, but nothing past that. I like my men… with control. Who know what they want and how to get there.”

Norris clears his throat awkwardly at the intenseness behind Olivia’s eyes.

“Yeah, sure,” he chokes out, tugging at his collar.

Robin peers through her binoculars, spotting Olivia and Norris on the stairs through the huge windows.

“Guys, they’re coming up to the second floor. I don’t think I need to tell you that this needs to be done fast.”

“It’s on the last few seconds,” Gaius reports, sliding Nowi’s transmitter into one of the modern art pieces with a dizzying amount of spirals. He looks to the door at the sound of Olivia’s voice outside.

“It must be difficult managing a company as large as your father’s.”

“You seem to be the only person who notices that,” Norris returns.

Gaius rolls his eyes as he pulls out the flash drive from the computer and slides back out onto the porch. He grins down at Lon’qu.

“Trust fall!”

“We don’t have time for this,” Lon’qu glares.

Gaius jumps down. Lon’qu takes a step back.

“You didn’t catch me!”

“You landed on your feet.”

“Because I didn’t think you’d catch me. And now I’m just disappointed in both of us.”

“Good job, guys,” Robin says as Gaius and Lon’qu jog over to the van. “And it sounds like Olivia’s sealing the deal right now.”

“Here you are,” Norris says, signing the check. “Five hundred thousand dollars.”

Olivia smiles, reaching her hand out to accept the check before Norris suddenly whisks it away.

“You can’t be serious,” he says, almost pleading.

“Pardon?”

“You’re too smart for this! You’ve seen my brother! All of his bright ideas end in disaster. I mean, paintball water skiing?” He pulls a brochure out of his desk with a flourish, waving the aggressively colorful folded paper in Olivia’s face. “His failed business ventures don’t end there! You can’t seriously be considering this!”

“Oh?” Olivia leans to the side in her seat, bringing her finger to her chin thoughtfully. “I’m always open to new business opportunities. Your brother being involved is hardly a necessity.”

“That’s—” Norris cuts himself off, mouth flapping noiselessly a few times before he recovers himself. “He hasn’t had to work a day in his life. _I’m_ the one that made this company what it is today. _My_ hard work is what turned disaster area relief into a growth industry.”

“Disaster area?” Olivia repeats curiously, her clenched fingers going unnoticed by Norris.

“People always need their homes fixed,” Norris shrugs in a show of mock pride. “It’s a lucrative market. Give them a low quote, hammer in a board or two if they’re lucky, then double the price if they complain. Eventually they can’t keep paying, and we put a lien on the property. Once the bank forecloses on them, we buy the houses cheap. It’s genius in its simplicity.”

Olivia smiles tensely, looking off to the side as Norris simply stands there with pride, holding the check loosely between two fingers.

“Donnel and his mom aren’t the only people they’ve done this to,” Lon’qu growls.

“I heard,” Robin grits her teeth. She glances at Nowi out of the corner of her eye, still typing away at her laptop. “Olivia, can you figure out how many?”

“How big is this operation of yours?” Olivia meets Norris’s eyes.

“I’d say… four hundred, give or take.”

“Four hundred?” Olivia repeats, nearly breaking character through her disgust.

“Oh gods,” Robin mutters, rubbing her forehead.

“We’re spread all over the country. Hurricane areas, tornado zones… they’re all perfect locations. And _that_ is hard work that Murray could never understand.”

Norris holds out the check now.

“Olivia, do not take that money,” Robin orders.

“What?” Gaius exclaims. Even Nowi is temporarily distracted from her computer to look over and echo Gaius’s sentiment.

Olivia simply stares at Norris, not even having lifted her hand before Robin spoke.

“Don’t tell me that’s gotten you squeamish,” Norris laughs. “It’s all legal. I’m just using a loophole.”

“What are you talking about, Bubbles? You can’t—”

“I said don’t take that money,” Robin repeats, not even looking at Gaius.

Olivia reaches out to take the check in her hands, holds it up to look at it, then rips it cleanly in two.

Norris lets out a barking laugh out of shock.

“Okay, Olivia, here’s what you’re going to do,” Robin directs. “You’re going to hook him into a bigger investment.”

“If what you’re telling me is that you want to do real business, then I might just have an opportunity for you,” Olivia stands up so as to more readily meet his eye. “But it is for serious investors only. This is a deal that I would never present to your brother.”

“Okay,” Norris replies somewhat breathlessly. “Interesting.”

“What are you doing?” Gaius whispers furiously.

“Forget about the money,” Robin finally looks at him. “This is bigger than that. We’re going to take the company, and we’re going to give all of these people their homes back.”

“When were you planning on telling us about this?” Lon’qu asks with unmasked judgement.

“Yeah, I thought we were a team,” Gaius agrees. “We have the right to know what we’re getting into.”

“Um… Robin?” Nowi cuts in, poking Robin’s arm. “So, I think I found something…”

“Define _something_ ,” Robin replies tensely.

“That interference from earlier _was_ coming from inside the house. I wasn’t able to zero in on it from just here, but the transmitter picked it up.”

“Picked up what?” Robin presses.

“The house is bugged. It’s looking like standard law enforcement equipment.”

“The cops haven’t given up yet then,” Robin sighs, leaning back in her seat.

The team pauses as Roddick’s coarse voice comes in through Olivia’s com.

“There now! Everything settled?”

“Yes, wonderfully,” Olivia replies. “Thank you very much. If you will excuse me, I have a partner I must meet with. I’ll keep in touch.”

Olivia walks out casually, though her face is already reverting back to its natural nervousness.

“I hope you know wh-what you’re d-doing, Robin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few fun facts go with this chapter! First, Olivia's under cover surname Enke is a nod to a real life speed skater, Karin Enke, who represented Germany in the Olympics in the 80's. The second is that Murray's idea of an X-games spin off comes from the Burning Man, which is a real life event that takes place in Nevada. The allure of it is that a temporary city is built up, stays up for a week, then gets taken down like it was never there.


	12. Rising Tensions

“I am really starting to think you are crazy, Bubbles,” Gaius accuses as soon as the hotel door is closed safely behind them.

“We had the money for Donnel and you just threw it away!” Nowi adds. “Money! Beautiful, green money!”

“T-this is b-bigger than just Donnel now,” Olivia says, coming to Robin’s defense.

Robin, for her part, ignores the chatter as she pours herself a drink. Olivia turns on her as she does so.

“Robin, please!”

“You’re right, Olivia.” Robin turns around slowly, carefully swishing the glass around and watching the clear golden brown waves. “This is bigger than just one client. Four hundred homes… this is a chance to give a voice to so many more victims.”

“It’s also a chance to get caught by the cops,” Lon’qu cuts in, eyes narrowed. “There’s too many ways this can go wrong with them involved.”

“But if played right, it can go even better.”

“What are you talking about?” Nowi laughs uncomfortably. “You’re always so weird and cryptic when you’re drunk. And you’re always drunk, so…”

“Nowi,” Olivia cringes.

“We’re going much bigger,” Robin presses on, ignoring the dig at her alcohol problem. “An even bigger scam. So Norris likes to invest in people’s misfortune? Let’s see how willing he’d be to invest… in death.”

Silence reigns in the hotel room as Robin stares pensively out the window. Nowi takes a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, you said invest in what?”

* * *

 

“You see, it’s very simple,” Robin spreads out her arms to her audience of two: Olivia and Norris, sitting together in the office at Roddick’s house. “You have your average run of the mill person. Hasn’t done anything too extraordinary. Except now, they figure out they have a fatal disease with only months to live, if that. What would you do in a situation like that?” Robin pushes her chair back and stands. “You want to _live_ even more! Travel the world, spend more time with the kids, things like that. But see, most people have no savings left after preliminary treatments. So you’re let knowin' that you’re gonna die, and on top of that, you’re broke.”

“Okay,” Norris says, hardly convinced, instead glancing down at his phone.

“Now here’s where it gets interesting.” Robin points at Norris, attracting his attention again. “Your big juicy insurance policy is just sitting there with nothing else to do. So what we do, our group—” she gestures to Olivia “—we buy their policy. They get a nice chunk of change now, and we can get our pay after they kick the bucket. It’s a win-win for everyone. They get to enjoy their last days, and we get a healthy profit from the exchange.”

“Lyn’s been in insurance for over ten years now,” Olivia explains. “She approached us with some… insider information.”

“You wanna know what I got?” Robin asks enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. “I’ve got databases full of sick people and some specialists with detailed reports that helped me compile a short list of people with fat policies and less than six months to live.” Robin leans forward conspiratorially, passing the list to Norris. “Do you have any idea what I’ve just handed you? This is a game changer, my friend. This, well… this will triple your money or more.”

“Lyn has a select number of investors already,” Olivia inserts smoothly. “With your contribution, we could buy even more policies.”

“Eh?” Robin grins expectantly.

Norris glances over the list before shaking his head, handing it back.

“No. It’s too risky. You can’t control when someone’s gonna croak.”

“Are you not listening?” Robin replies with a half laugh. “This list is our golden goose! I mean, just look at it.” Robin clears her throat before reading with gusto, “here we go. Lung cancer, middle aged man in Renais. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, twenty-something in Gallia. Do you see this Rolex? Yeah, this baby’s all thanks to some sucker’s melanoma.”

“Alright, alright!” Norris relents. “But I want independent confirmation myself with a doctor of my own choosing.”

“Hey, fair enough,” Robin grins. “But…” she pauses as she picks the list back up, swinging it back and forth in the air. “We do have one condition. No one gets a look at this list without a little buy in first. Ten thousand up front.”

“Of course,” Norris snorts.

“Of course,” Robin replies as they shake hands. She hands him back the list. “Take your pick, my friend. Take a good, long look. Pick a patient, any patient…”

“Uh… okay,” Norris points to a name. “Sain Kent, inoperable brain tumor. He’s even nearby.”

“Well…” Robin smiles humorlessly. “Nice choice. I’ll set it up. You bring your doctor.”

“Alright,” Norris makes a note of it as the phone rings. “Oh, this is gonna be good,” he snickers at the caller ID. “Florina!”

Olivia hurries over as Norris answers, putting the call on speaker.

“You damn weasel!” Murray exclaims without preamble. “You had one job, man. All you had to do was write the check!”

“Oh, but I did. Just ask our friend Florina.”

“What? What’s she doing there?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, darling,” Olivia cuts in. “We just decided to… go in a different direction.”

“What—what did you say to her?” Murray shouts.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know. I just sit alone in my office all day counting numbers,” Norris returns in a mocking impression of his brother. He and Olivia share a laugh.

“Norris, you little asshole!” Murray thunders. “We’ll see how happy you are when dad hears about this!”

“Sorry—kssshh—you’re—kssh—breaking up!”

“Norris, you fu—”

Norris hangs up, then spins around in his chair to look at Olivia.

“Oops.”

“Now _that_ is what I call control,” Olivia chuckles. She looks up and meets Robin’s eyes. “We’ll meet you later at the hospital, then.”

“Yeah. I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’m looking forward to a prosperous partnership,” Robin says, shaking Norris’s hand.

* * *

 

There’s something relaxing about driving with no destination in mind, even more so when Robin thinks about all of the griping she faces back at the hotel. Between Olivia’s attempts to talk about Robin’s reasons for drinking and the other three still hung up on the decision for Olivia to refuse the check, being alone on the road with vodka in a water bottle sounds like the better alternative. Robin pauses at the flashing red and blue lights in the mirror. Confused as she is, she pulls over, stashing the vodka safely away and shoving a couple mints into her mouth in an attempt to mask the smell. She rolls down the window.

“What seems to be the problem, offi—”

The man opens the back door and sits down behind Robin.

“Ah. Judging by the ill fitted suit…” Robin chuckles despite herself. “Now, what would the state police want with my business, Lieutenant…?” She pauses for the name.

“Deen. Racketeering and Corruption Task Force. What business do you have in Alabama?”

“Oh, you know, I just like the country side.”

“We know you came from a meeting with Norris Roddick. Now, what _I_ want to know is why an ex-insurance agent is trying to make a deal with that family?”

“Racketeering? That’s what you’re trying to get them with? I realized that you couldn’t get them on the fraud, but… you must be pretty desperate.”

“We’re going to get the Roddicks.”

“Oh, of course.”

“Now, if you and your people still happen to be around when that happens, well… we’re not going to stop to sort all of that out.”

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be talking to me right now if you had anything. You’re fishing.” Robin looks at him in the rearview the mirror. “I must have hit a nerve. Either way, two days. Two days, and the Roddicks will have made a mistake, and we will be gone and out of your way. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and they’ll be yours.”

“There’s no reason I should trust a drunk.”

“Your choice, Lieutenant.”

The lieutenant leaves without a backward glance. Robin watches the other cars go by for a while before she pulls back onto the road.

* * *

 

“How are we going to do this? It’s not like any of us have any brain tumors,” Gaius quips, rolling a lollipop from one side of his mouth to the other.

“Nowi, would you be able to edit the image on the computer?” Robin asks.

“I don’t think so,” Nowi replies from her seat on the bed of the medical scanner, legs swinging back and forth as they dangle over the ground. “Not easily, anyway. The images from the brain scan go directly from here to the computer, and trying to make any adjustments between the two could get messy. I don’t do messy!”

“Sure…” Robin trails off, recalling all of the times Nowi’s visited her apartment.

“Not in my work anyway!” Nowi adds with a pout.

“So our only option is to scan a brain with some sort of artificial tumor that we plant in there directly.”

“Yeah… no,” Gaius cuts in. “I am not risking permanent brain damage for you, Bubbles.”

“We’re obviously not going to put anything in _your_ brain. We’ll need another one…”

“Creepy~” Nowi sings.

“Even if we get another brain, how will we scan it if Gaius is in this one?” Lon’qu says from his spot near the door.

“The computer from this bay doesn’t need to be attached to this scanner,” Nowi grins.

“There’s another bay next to this one,” Robin says thoughtfully. “Nowi, if you could cross the wires and send the scans from the other scanner to this computer, we can get through this without having to kill Gaius.”

“Why do you always talk like you have plans where I die?”

“Don’t ask question you don’t want the answers to.” Robin favors Gaius with a sly grin.

“Creepy~” Nowi sings again.

“Well,” Robin takes a deep breath, clapping her hands together. “We need to secure both rooms and a brain for tomorrow morning. Let’s get on it.”

* * *

 

“There you are!” Nowi calls, jogging forward to Lon’qu pushing a table with a sheet covering what can only be a body.

Olivia jumps in surprise as they burst through the door together. Her eyes zero in with horror at the motionless lump underneath the sheet.

“Do—do I w-want to ask wh-where you…?”

“No,” Lon’qu answers.

“Olivia,” Robin says from the earpiece. “Norris should be here soon. Could you join me in the waiting room?”

“S-s-sure!” Olivia scrambles out, giving the body a wide birth.

Lon’qu pushes the table next to the bed then slides the body over. He flinches as he notices how close Nowi hovers behind him, though she seems not to notice.

“So what do we have?” she pulls back the sheet and immediately jumps back, throwing her arms in front of her face. “Oh gods! _Gods_ , so _icky_!”

“What were you expecting?” Lon’qu asks dryly. “This is even a clean corpse.”

“It _smells_!” Nowi protests, two fingers pinching her nose closed to accentuate her point.

“Just do it,” Lon’qu sighs, grabbing the injection from the nearby table and holding it out.

“No!” Nowi cries, recoiling as if struck. “You’ve killed people before! You do it!”

“I’ve never killed people by sticking giant needles into their cranial cavities,” Lon’qu says, an edge of discomfort in his voice.

“Excuses, excuses!” Nowi says shrilly, attempting to push away the needle that Lon’qu still holds out to her.

“One of you is going to do it or I’m coming up there,” Robin threatens in a voice so stern and threatening that only a mother can really manage it.

With a shudder, Lon’qu jams the needle in. Nowi spins around, making gagging noises.

“Worst job ever! Worst job ever!” she cries, not even looking at the garbage bag that she holds out for Lon’qu to deposit the evidence into.

“Hey, guys!” Gaius opens the door and pokes his head in. “Which hospital gown should I wear? Dead inside off green, or borrowed time rose gold?”

“Pink! Pink!” Nowi replies.

“Really? I thought the green brings out my eyes better.”

“Just pick a dress and put it on,” Lon’qu deadpans, brushing past him into the hallway.

“Norris is here,” Robin reports. “Get in position.” She steps forward with Olivia, shaking hands with both Norris and the doctor he’s brought with him. “A pleasure,” she smiles once introductions have been made. “Shall we?”

A few minutes later they stand in front of the glass window as Gaius is shown in by a rather disgruntled looking nurse Lon’qu. He looks blankly ahead as he is directed to the bed.

“That’s Sain Kent?” Norris peers inside as his doctor preps the computer to receive the scans.

“Yes,” Robin replies. “Poor guy.”

They watch in silence as Gaius is laid down on the bed, then slid inside.

“I’ve got our other brain scanning in here,” Nowi reports from the room next door. “And we’re sending you our other brain… now!”

“Well… what do you think, doctor?” Robin asks the balding man Norris brought with him.

“Oh, he’s terminal alright,” he replies, leaning forward to better view the screen. “It’s almost too large to believe… he has weeks left; a month at best.”

“There you have it,” Robin says to Norris after the doctor had been thanked and sent on his way. Norris smiles, half chuckling as he stands in a quiet hallway facing Robin and Olivia.

“I had my doubts, but yeah,” Norris concedes. “So, what’s my cut?”

“Your cut? Oh,” Robin laughs. “That’s it?”

“Yeah, I put my money in, now I want my cut.”

“Fine, fine,” Robin holds her hands up in surrender before pulling out her checkbook. “Gone scared on us. Can’t say I’m surprised; you don’t look like the sort willing to take a risk. Let’s see, first stage investor?” Robin pauses to give Norris an appraising look. “One hundred grand?”

“What is wrong with you?!” Gaius howls from over the coms. Robin doesn’t even flinch.

“This just might work out after all,” Norris whistles, looking up only just in time for Olivia to recover from her grimace.

“Yes,” Olivia chuckles woodenly. “With this money you could even start your own company and leave your father entirely.”

“Yeah,” Norris says, perking up. “Yeah, it would be easy. I just need to move some accounts around and—”

“What?” Robin cuts in, flinching away. “Moving some—moving accounts? What sort of… who do you think we are? We don’t operate this way!” She whirls on Olivia as she throws her hands up in the air. “What is this nonsense? Who did you bring me to?”

“You don’t understand, I just—”

“No, _you_ don’t understand,” Robin interrupts Norris, turning away to storm down the hallway. “I can’t help you, sir. You just don’t get it. It’s fine. Keep the money. We don’t need you.”

“What is she…?” Norris looks helplessly to Olivia.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’ll talk to her,” Olivia says hurriedly before rushing after Robin.

“I want serious investors, Florina!”

“Lyn, a word?” Olivia chases Robin around the corner into one of the dark hospital rooms.

Robin is met with three intense glares as soon as the door is closed securely behind them.

“I know,” she says evenly, not intimidated in the least. “Save it until we’re back to the hotel.”

She receives nothing but more stony glares as she leads her team back to the van.

* * *

 

Nowi immediately races to her laptop as soon as she steps foot inside the hotel room.

“I’ll have the payment canceled in a jiffy!” she announces with forced cheerfulness amidst the general animosity directed towards Robin.

Robin, for her part, remains unfazed, already reaching for a bottle and glass.

“Just let it go,” she remarks, settling down in a chair as Gaius stalks over to her, brows angled downward over his narrowed eyes.

“Let me just get this straight so you get how stupid you are, Bubbles. We _had_ half a million dollars, and you tossed that away. That’s enough on its own. _Now_ you’re offering up a hundred grand of our money. _Our_ money.”

“Please, you know how this works. It’s just a stall.”

“You use a stall when you have someone on the hook.”

“Guys, please. I know what I’m doing. You’ve got to trust me. You’ve trusted me before.”

“Not when you’re drunk like this,” Lon’qu cuts in.

Robin pauses for a long moment, matching Lon’qu’s look with one of her own. She sighs when he shows no signs of backing down.

“Please,” she scoffs, aiming to play it off when no other argument can be found.

“Robin…” Olivia starts uncertainly.

“Listen,” Gaius cuts in, pacing back over. “You’re welcome to drink yourself into a stupor for all I care, but I’m not going down with you.”

“Pfft,” Robin tips her glass back with a snort. “I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re all exactly the same as you were before. Always caring about nothing but yourselves.”

“I need to speak to Robin alone!” Olivia blurts out suddenly, standing between Robin and the others.

“Good luck with that, Twinkletoes,” Gaius mutters, shoving a chair aside roughly on his way out. Lon’qu and Nowi follow him in similar humors.

Olivia moves only once they are alone, turning around to face Robin in silence. Robin rolls her eyes, swirling her glass around moodily.

“You’d better not give me some kind of ‘but we’re all family’ speech.”

“No speeches,” Olivia shakes her head, looking down pensively for a long moment before raising her gaze to look at Robin’s eyes. “Just… a question: is this helping you?”

Robin silently watches her bourbon swish around in her glass.

“I-if you help Donny and his mother to keep their home and stay together, will you find some peace?”

“Olivia, you know me,” Robin says, though she finds herself unable to meet Olivia’s eyes. “You know I can do this.”

“I knew you two years ago, Robin.”

“I’m still the same person.”

“N-no. No, you’re not.”

Robin pauses, at last tearing her eyes away from her glass to look at Olivia. The usual pity is gone from her eyes, replaced by a grim sort of acceptance. Robin lets out a sigh, feeling those two years all too well as their weight settles down in her bones.

“No, I’m not.”

They lapse into silence, neither one wanting to broach all of the unspoken thoughts and questions hanging between them. It’s Olivia who breaks the spell, averting her eyes as her cheeks flush pink.

“…Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Robin says, though she feels far from it.

“I-I’ll… let you sleep.”

Olivia slips out of the room as silent as a ghost. Robin watches her glass of bourbon again for a few moments before setting it down on the counter. Slipping off her shoes, she shuffles over to the bed and falls face first into the pillow.


	13. A House Divided

Robin cringes at the ringing phone despite already being awake. She takes a second to collect herself before looking at the caller ID, then smiles at the number.

“Hello?” she answers cheerfully, a burst of energy overtaking her usual morning melancholy.

“I’m in,” Norris announces from over the phone with no preamble.

“Too late. You missed the deadline.”

“What deadline?”

“My deadline. We’re closing up shop here.”

“Would five million dollars open any doors?”

Robin can’t help but smile, pleased to see a response even better than she’d planned for.

“Well,” she chuckles, “I’m sure we can work something out.”

“Meet me at the bank downtown.”

Norris hangs up, leaving Robin with the task of getting everything prepared for the next step.

* * *

 

“I cannot believe this!” Roddick storms over with laptop in hand, nearly throwing it down in front of Murray. “After all I’ve done for the little runt, this is how he repays me?”

“What?” Murray asks excitedly.

“He’s trying to transfer five million dollars from the corporate account! And he thought he could do it right under my nose? Ha! Let’s see him try! He wants to move the money? We’ll just have to move it somewhere that he can’t have it!”

* * *

 

“They’re here,” Lon’qu says in the bank later that morning. 

On the other side of the open room away from Lon’qu, Roddick and Murray sit together with one of the bank’s agents.

“That takes care of your end,” the banker informs the duo with a pleasant, customer service smile. “We’ll just print off a last couple things for you to sign and we’ll be all finished.”

“Good,” Roddick replies, smug with his own idea of a victory.

“I’ll be just a minute,” the banker nods respectfully at both men before rising from his desk to check in on other business, the general bustle of the room going on around them.

“You’re clear,” Lon’qu reports.

“What a fun job we have,” Gaius says with a dreamy sigh as he discreetly throws a large rock at Roddick’s car. He snickers as the ensuing car alarm startles a nearby police officer from his nap.

After a quick investigation, the officer—clearly recognizing the vehicle—hurries inside the bank.

“Mr. Roddick,” he calls as a short bank attendant with long, light green hair pulled back into a messy ponytail arrives with some paperwork.

“These are for Murray,” the bank attendant chirps, handing the papers off as Roddick waves them in the right direction.

“Mr. Roddick,” the officer repeats, “I think someone’s smashed your windshield.”

“What?” Roddick exclaims. “They’d better not have! Do you have any idea how much those cost? _Someone_ is going to pay for them.”

The officer at once bustles back outside, Roddick grumbling slowly along behind him. The officer is already out the door and back at the scene of the crime when Roddick meets Norris and Robin at the entrance. Roddick’s face immediately flushes red with anger as Norris’s morphs into one of shock.

“What are you doing here?” Norris asks nervously, flinching at Roddick’s foul expression.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” Roddick sneers. “You always thought you were better than us.”

“Look, I don’t know what Murray told you but—”

“Ah, you must be Mr. Roddick!” Robin interrupts. “The name’s Lyn. How do you do?” She holds out her hand to shake, but Roddick simply glares, infuriated at having someone dare interrupt him. “Ah. Yes. Well, you see, we’ve got a very unique and lucrative investment opportunity and—”

“Shut up!” Roddick barks. He turns his attention back to Norris as Robin hides a grin. “You! You no longer are an officer of my company. I’ve transferred over all signatory power to Murray. Ha!”

“Wh-what?” Norris blusters, looking around uncertainly as if expecting some form of deliverance to appear and rescue him. While the raised voices had attracted some attention, assistance still proves to not be forthcoming.

“Oh, but uh…” Robin cuts in again with a nervous chuckle. “Your son and I? Yeah, we have a deal.”

“Oh no,” Roddick turns back to Robin with faux sympathy. “Did he promise you money?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Well he doesn’t have any to give you,” Roddick announces, turning to Norris with nasty glee. “You can’t touch any of it. I transferred all the funds offshore!”

“You did what?” Norris asks quietly, growing pale. “Do you realize what you’ve just done?”

“The right thing,” Murray says triumphantly, walking over to stand beside his father. “Standing with his family. The only family that _matters_ anyway.”

“Family?” Norris retorts mockingly.

“Yeah.”

“I _am_ this family!” Norris bellows, charging at his brother with fists swinging.

Roddick attempts in vain to break up the quickly escalating brawl as Robin quickly backs away.

“Everybody, we’re getting out,” Robin speaks in an undertone, unnoticed by the crowd that is growing far more interested in the two-man brawl taking over the lobby.

She, Lon’qu, Olivia, and Nowi all slip through the crowd to escape out into the street, leaving their marks to pick up the pieces.

* * *

 

“Idiots,” Roddick snarls again as his sons sneer across from each other back in the comfort of their own home, pressing hastily acquired ice packs to purpling bruises. His ill temper is still evident in his voice as he answers his phone. “Yeah?”

Norris and Murray both glance over sulkily, then with more interest as Roddick’s anger gives way to confusion.

“Okay, okay, slow down. You’re not making any sense. What’s—”

Norris looks down suddenly as his own phone starts ringing.

“Yeah?”

“Our check didn’t go through?”

“Our numbers? What—how would I know? You’re the accountant; figure it out!”

“Fine. Fax it over here. There’s gotta be some mistake! I’ll look it over.”

“What in the hell…” Norris looks over nervously at his father. “I’ll call you back.”

Roddick raises an eyebrow at Norris’s look, but Norris has already moved on. He glares at Murray.

“What did you do?”

“What?”

“Did you sign something?”

“Yeah, my Winter X games deal. I can sign _any_ checks I want now.”

“Screw your stupid checks!” Norris shouts, jumping to his feet. “You just signed away controlling interest in the company!”

“What? No, I didn’t!”

“There’s gotta be a mistake,” Roddick says to his sons just as much as to his employee on the phone. “We can fix it.”

“I was just signing that contract with Florina! It’s only five hundred thousand dollars,” Murray continues with an air of injured dignity.

“Is this what you signed?” Norris snatches the papers up from the table, taking a moment to wave them in Murray’s face before whipping them back around to read.

“I don’t know. I guess so?”

“There’s your signature,” Norris says, glaring at the messy cursive scrawled on the bottom of the first page.

_…_

_“These are for Murray,” Nowi, dressed as a bank attendant, chirped to the distracted Roddick._

_With a dismissing wave, Roddick left them to follow after the police officer. Setting the papers in front of Murray, Nowi stepped aside to let Olivia step out from the back, looking lovely in a bright sundress. Murray grinned as Olivia walked over to him, leaning on the back of his seat._

_“Very good,” she laughed, clapping her hands together. “Now that the transfer of authority is all done, it seems that we’re good to go ahead with our little deal, yes?”_

_“I knew you weren’t serious about my stupid brother,” Murray grinned._

_“How could I be with you around?” Olivia laughed again. “We’ll be seeing you.”_

_…_

“This isn’t five hundred thousand dollars,” Norris grimaces, the paper crinkling in his hands as his fists clench. “You transferred fifty-one percent of our corporate powers to her group.”

“What?” Murray says blankly, staring at the papers. “That’s not…”

“No!” Roddick gasps, grabbing the papers from Norris, who was only too glad to look away from them.

“They set us up,” Norris says with growing horror, looking to his father, gone pale with shock. “They wanted you to figure out what I was doing so that you’d transfer power to Murray. Then this… this—this _idiot_ did the rest!”

“What does this mean?” Murray gasped. “Are we broke?”

“No!” Roddick cried. “No, we can fix this! We can get the company back!”

“I need some air,” Norris whispers desperately, making for the door, then backing away as someone else steps through.

Lieutenant Deen holds his badge aloft as he walks inside, five other agents behind him.

“Mr. Roddick, you are under arrest,” he recites, stepping over to the man.

“What?” Roddick exclaims, his face growing red yet again, nervously eyeing the suited agents making their way around the room.

“Five hours ago there was a suspicious activities report filed after a large, undeclared sum of money triggered a security alert.”

“Securities?” Roddick pauses, so taken aback that he pays little mind to an agent behind him securing handcuffs around his wrists. “I didn’t transfer any securities.”

“You transferred the money offsh—” Norris cut himself off, covering his own mouth, looking around in terror at the lieutenant’s agents.

“Combined with your previous fraudulent actions, you are being charged for continued and repeated corrupt activity. You have the right to remain silent. Anything said can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

“How could you have known he was going to make that transfer?” Norris cuts in incredulously.

Lieutenant Deen pauses for a moment with the faintest of amused smiles, recalling a conversation with an interesting person alone at night in her car.

_…_

_“Either way, two days,” Robin said, calm and collected, not even bothering to look back at the officer sitting behind her. “Two days, and the Roddicks will have made a mistake, and we will be gone and out of your way. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and they’ll be yours.”_

_…_                                                                                                                       

“Do you understand the rights I’ve just read to you?” Lieutenant Deen asks as Roddick is led away.

“You don’t understand,” Roddick says faintly, his mind elsewhere, having gone pale again. “I had to move the money. I didn’t have any other choice. I had to move it. The money, I just…”

“Just shut up!” Norris shouts, he and Murray scurrying after the precession of agents. “You’re only making it worse!”

Norris pauses as his phone buzzes, allowing the others to go ahead and out the door.

“Hello?”

“Did you even look at the names, Norris?” Robin says, not bothering to hide her judgement or disgust.

“What?”

“The names,” Robin snaps. “On the list. That one that is supposedly of people all about to die. Yeah, those would be the names of all of the families that lost their homes thanks to you. Funny how you couldn’t even be bothered to remember any of them.”

“Son of a—”

“But see,” Robin continues casually, inspecting her nails as the team looks onwards, all save Nowi, who is already hard at work, “now that _we_ control the company, why, we’ll see all of the rightful owners back into their homes.”

“Laugh it up while you can. This will never hold up in court! Murray’s an incompetent idiot! Anyone can see that!”

“That’s no way to talk about family,” Robin teases. “I have to hand it to you, though—you’re good with the books. Declaring your own family’s home as a corporate asset was pretty clever in getting a nice tax break. And that does make things interesting when we have control of everything involved with the corporation too. We’ll just have to reclaim the property, I suppose. Don’t worry, we’ll give you a few days to move out your things. Just be a dear and leave the keys under the mat for us.”

Robin grins as she ends the call, smiling over at the team.

“Time to deliver the good news!”

* * *

 

“I—I don’t know what to say,” Donnel stammers, eyeing the keys in his hand as if they were made of pure gold.

“We could start with a thank you, but it’d never be enough,” Donnel’s mother adds, having been so shocked that Olivia kindly led her to a seat on one of the raised ornamental brick walls outside the house previously belonging to Roddick and his sons.

“You don’t really mean that this whole big house is all just for us, do ya?” Donnel says, looking up at the huge house standing out against the setting sun.

“Well, that’s up to you,” Robin says kindly, exchanging a smile with Olivia. “I know you’re attached to your farmhouse, but we figured it couldn’t hurt to have a summer home if you wanted it. Either way, the house and all the furnishings are fully paid for and now under your name, so what you do with it is entirely up to you.”

“Gods bless you, ma’am,” Donnel’s mother whispers, reaching out to grasp Robin’s hand. “I don’t know how we’ll ever repay you.”

“Seeing your home returned is all the thanks we need,” Robin answers, giving the woman’s hand a squeeze back. “We wish you all the best.”

“Don’t go getting weepy on us, Twinkletoes,” Gaius whispers aside to Olivia.

“I-I’m f-f-fine,” Olivia gasps, wiping furiously at her eyes.

“Well, with a house so big, there’s room for all of y’all anytime,” Donnel’s mother says warmly, looking at everyone in turn. “Don’t be strangers.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Donnel’s Mom!” Nowi cheers.

“Well, we’ll leave you to it,” Robin says, clearing her throat and going back into business mode. She shakes Donnel’s hand again before walking back down the front walk to her car.

* * *

 

Even Olivia’s knock is timid enough for Robin to know it’s her before she comes in. While Robin had expected Olivia to waste little time in hunting her down after returning home, she allows herself a modicum of surprise at Olivia’s stopping by the first night back.

“Th-that was… very kind,” Olivia pauses, seeing Robin’s bottle already out on the kitchen counter. She doesn’t verbally acknowledge it, instead pressing on. “T-to throw in the house for Donny and his mother, I mean.”

“Didn’t it feel symbolic, though?” Robin chuckles.

“You… didn’t always get th-theatrical about things like that.”

“You were the one that said it, didn’t you? I’ve changed.”

“Yes…” Olivia trails off, slowly walking over to sit on the barstool beside Robin. They both stare ahead at the art on the wall—a calming landscape of an open, empty field beside a dirt trail. “Giving them back their home, th-that…”

“I had to,” Robin answers before Olivia can even finish the question. Her fists clench in her lap as she stares ahead at that empty field. “I couldn’t keep my own home together, so if I can stop that from happening to anyone else… Well, the house is still there, but…”

“It’s symbolic?”

Robin chuckles bitterly, looking down at her slippers, embarrassed by her own rambling.

“Yeah.”

“And that—” Olivia ducks her head in the direction of the bottle behind them on the counter “—does that help too?”

Robin says nothing, looking back up at the painting.

“I-I… can’t know how you r-really feel, but… if you… if you keep acting this way, they w-won’t… keep backing you up.”

“And what about you?” Robin asks, finally looking at her, Olivia turning to do the same.

“I don’t want to w-watch you keep h-hurting yourself.”

Robin pauses, smiling despite herself at Olivia’s sincerity.

“You’re too nice to do what you do,” Robin notes.

“W-well,” Olivia stammers, looking away again as her cheeks flush pink from the compliment, “I-I’ve got to be g-good at s-something.”

“You’re good at being a friend,” Robin says lightheartedly, nudging Olivia gently with her arm. “But this… is just something that’s not for you to fix.”

“I… see,” Olivia sighs heavily, sliding off of the bar stool. “If it doesn’t get fixed, though… they’ll leave… m-me too.”

Olivia stands, watching Robin sadly for a few long moments. Robin doesn’t meet her gaze, attention drawn back to the painting. Letting out a long breath, Olivia leaves, closing the door silently behind her. Robin turns around in her stool, reaching for the bottle and uncorking it. She has already started to tip it towards her glass when she freezes. Shakily, the bottle returns to its position in the cabinet, the glass following behind it. Robin closes the cabinet door with a snap, then leans forward, resting her forehead against the polished wood, eyes squeezed shut.

“I… won’t let that happen,” she promises. 


	14. Poor Caretakers

“Who’s that?”

The grizzled man looked over at his fellow’s muttered question, his gaze zeroing in on the approaching blonde figure. There was no denying the purpose in each step as the small party by the car watched. The grizzled man’s partner—their only woman, hidden under a mass of fur coat—huffed angrily at the interruption as she squinted ahead, looking the figure up and down.

“Is that the nosy doctor? Libra something?”

The little bit of head sticking out of the formidable coat nodded pointedly at one of the men who nodded back, reaching for the gun tucked into the back of his pants. The grizzled man stopped him, gently pushing his hand back to his side. He inclined his head back in the direction of the doctor, now close enough for all to see the severe expression painted on with righteous anger. The grizzled man grinned like one looking forward to some prime entertainment. There’s not even a chance for exchanged greetings before the doctor stops in front of them.

“You’re the ones with the children. Candace.”

“That’s my name,” the woman underneath the fur replies disdainfully, fluffing her coat like a disgruntled bird would its feathers. “What’s it to you?”

“You will return the child you took from me. Hayato is under my care, and gods only know what condition those other poor children are in. Release them all, or I will be forced to take action.”

“Take action?” the grizzled man repeated, amused.

“You’re leaving me no choice. I’ve tried to contact you many times before and you only continue to avoid the problem.”

“Let it go, lady,” the grizzled man spat, any pretense of good mood dispelled, motioning for the other two men behind him to circle around the doctor. Candace stood unmoving, her hand still resting on the car door’s handle. “This isn’t any of your business. You don’t want to make yourself an enemy in a place like this, yes? After all, you’d hate for anything to happen to your clinic, and I’d hate to hit a woman.”

As he spoke, the grizzled man slowly lifted a clenched fist to hang dangerously in front of Libra’s face.

“Your threats mean nothing to me,” Libra bit back, knocking the threatening fist away fearlessly. “You can’t do this if I have anything to say about it. And don’t let a woman concern you; I’m a man.”

“Oh, good. Then I don’t need to regret this.”

The force of the punch knocked Libra back; enough that when the other two men surged forward, he was pushed off of his feet. Candace smirked as she opened her car door, sliding into the back seat as her two henchmen laid into Libra, kicking repeatedly until they were finally satisfied. With a last couple spits directed towards Libra, they all joined Candace in the car, laughing as they drove off. Libra watched them blearily, rising unsteadily to his feet. Wincing from what he felt to be broken ribs, he reached for his phone, glad to find at least that undamaged.

“Yes, it’s Libra,” he said pleasantly, smiling around his pain at the good-natured older woman on the other side of the line. “I’m so sorry to bother you when you’re likely sitting down for your evening meal, but would you be so kind as to send your grandson out to fetch me? I’m afraid I’ve gotten myself into a rather unfortunate situation.”

* * *

 

“They were kind enough to drive me directly to the nearest hospital,” Libra smiles faintly as he looks across the table at Robin and Olivia in the comfort of Stahl’s bar. “I still can’t thank them enough when the drive is over two hours, just one way…”

“Th-that’s—that’s terrible!” Olivia gasps, hands over her mouth.

“It felt much worse than it actually was. There were a couple broken ribs, but nothing else was so serious, by the grace of Naga. Just both wrists sprained and more bruises than I can count. What was worse was what they did to my clinic.”

“Is there anything left of it?” Robin asks quietly, noting the droop in Libra’s shoulders; clearly his own health mattered little when weighed against the loss of his livelihood.

“No,” Libra says, almost short in comparison to the calm recitation of the previous events. Robin notes a hidden passion poking through. “Unfortunately, fire does a thorough job of leaving nothing behind but ashes. It’s a dangerous place to be on the border of Nohr and Hoshido, ceasefire or no. I knew this going in, but still…”

“It doesn’t make it any easier,” Robin finishes for him. “Why this little border town? Being right between constantly warring countries like Nohr and Hoshido is hardly safe for anyone.”

“I first discovered the place while I was part of a Doctors Without Borders program. It’s little towns like theirs that get trapped between the fighting, and a lot of refugees and orphans end up stuck there with nowhere else to go. Hayato was one of them.”

Libra pauses, reaching into his jacket to pull out a photograph. Olivia accepts it, angling the picture for Robin to get a good view as well—a boy of around ten, his auburn hair messy and clothes just a few sizes too big. He doesn’t smile.

“He lost his parents during one of the skirmishes when he was younger,” Libra says, folding his hands together atop the table. “Somehow or another, he found himself at the border. He was separated from his caretaker, so I took it upon myself to watch over him. I had heard that the asylum was already full of more than they could care for, so I was more than happy to help by boarding the boy myself. He’s exceptionally bright, and the best assistant I could have asked for at the clinic.”

“And Candace,” Robin cuts in as Libra pauses, looking sadly ahead at the photograph Olivia sets back on the table, “she’s the woman in charge of the orphan’s asylum?”

“Yes,” Libra replies, a hard edge in his voice. “The men that work for her… they first outright approached me and… offered, they claimed, to take Hayato off my hands. I told them no, and for a while, I thought that was the end of it. But those last couple weeks before he disappeared, I would see one or more of them wherever we would go. Fool that I am, I thought nothing of it. Then eventually, they grabbed him while he was out on an errand. I should have known… I never should have let him go out on his own.”

“This isn’t y-your fault,” Olivia says, reaching for the stash of tissues hidden in her purse to dab at her eyes. “Who could have known that someone would actually do something like this?”

“I tried numerous times to get their attention,” Libra continues distantly. “It wasn’t until that night that I finally managed to get to Candace directly.”

“Libra,” Robin says, looking directly into his sad eyes. “We will make sure that you get Hayato back, and the money to pay for your hospital bills and to see your clinic rebuilt.”

“Money doesn’t matter to me, Miss Validar,” Libra replies as he sits up straight, eyes flashing. “I just want to make sure Hayato is safe, and the other children too. I fear what Candace’s excuse for care has done to those poor souls.”

“They’re going to be alright,” Robin reassures him. “I swear it.”

“Thank you.”

Libra shakes hands with both women as they rise to leave, nodding respectfully at Stahl before walking out into the street. Stahl gives Robin a hopeful look as they approach the bar, though he still positions himself to be ready to grab a bottle should Robin ask for one.

“Thanks for letting us use your bar again for this meeting,” Robin says instead, even if she eyes the array of drinks lining the shelves dangerously.

“It’s no trouble at all. It’s always dead at this time, and I like having the company. It was a pleasure to meet you too, Olivia.”

“The p-pleasure is m-mine,” Olivia squeaks, staring at the bar top.

“We should get going,” Robin says, hands in her pockets. “I’ve got to call Nowi and get the ball rolling.”

“You won’t be wanting anything for the road?” Stahl asks directly this time, though the hopeful look in his eyes remains. Robin can feel Olivia eyeing her as well.

“Not this time,” Robin replies pleasantly, though her smile is still a touch forced.

“Alright,” Stahl beams.

Robin rolls her eyes in amusement as she walks out, missing the cheerful thumbs up Stahl sends Olivia’s way. Olivia returns it enthusiastically even as her cheeks flush crimson, happy for the camaraderie to share with another person equally cheering for the sobering up of a mutual friend.

* * *

 

“I would ask how you all got here before us, but I already know,” Robin sighs at the small group gathered in her kitchen.

Gaius grins from around a mouthful of sandwich as Lon’qu pours himself a cup of tea. Nowi spins around in her chair, grabbing Robin’s hand along the way to the briefing room to drag her along. She turns the large screen on with a flourish and dramatic pose, smiling as the others shuffle in and sit down.

“I’ve really outdone myself with the special effects transitions this time! It’s gonna knock your socks off!” she exclaims.

“Okay,” Robin says dully. “Run it.” She pauses as Lon’qu slides a mug in front of her—from a safe distance—steam rolling off of the tea inside. “What’s this for?”

“Something else to drink,” he mutters.

“…Thanks,” Robin says, surprised. Despite Lon’qu’s stellar observation skills, she’d considered herself clever at remaining subtle in regards to her difficulty at sobering up.

“Ahem!” Nowi, far more oblivious, gestures dramatically to the screen again. “Our mark!” A blonde, fashionably dressed woman appears on the screen, her round face lit up in a smile as the picture was taken. “Candace Dragé. She’s someone who’s dabbled all over the place, though grifting seems to be her preferred angle. She’s often spotted mysteriously in the same area at the time that expensive art pieces go missing only to reappear shortly after in black markets.”

“She’s got to be good,” Olivia whispers with almost grudging respect, nodding as she writes something. She blushes upon looking up and seeing the glances sent her way, holding the be-stickered cat pen up as if she plans to hide behind it. “I—I mean! I-if she’s been spotted in the same p-places and n-never gets c-caught!”

“That’s probably because she’s always floating around to different things,” Nowi explains, clicking through more photos of Candace in various places. “With Candace, it seems she just heads to wherever she can get the best money at the time while she holds out for the job she really wants.” Nowi pauses on an older photograph of a young girl, blonde hair in almost cartoonish curls as one hand rests girlishly on her mouth in surprise. “You see, Candace was a child model back in her day. She got a couple minor nonspeaking roles in foreign movies around the same time, and she doesn’t want to let it go. She’s still sending out audition tapes to tons of different film companies.”

“If she’s all about the money and fame, why something so far from it like an orphanage?” Gaius asks, glaring at Candace on the screen.

“As far as I can tell, the orphanage is just another money scam,” Nowi answers. “Candace and her little troupe of hired muscle tried to make it look like the orphanage has been government run for ages via their website, but as far as I can tell, they only went into business a couple years ago at best. They get what they can from the government as a ‘federal institution’ and make a lot more from well-meaning donors through sad stories about war orphans on their websites. And if anyone is actually interested in adopting any of the kids? Candace can just make up a bunch of red tape to stretch things out for years. Probably until the kids outgrow the age limits on children under government care and get knocked onto the streets.”

“And who’s that?” Robin nods at the man behind Candace, noting his repeated appearances. “Judging from the choice of dress, he’s not just any hired muscle.”

“This guy… was a little harder,” Nowi admits, but gets chipper once again as she swipes at her tablet, bringing up an identification record of a grizzled man with a glint in his eye a little too crazed for comfort. “His records are pretty vague. All I’ve got is the name Morristan and possible connections to numerous mobs. We’re talking Nohrian mob and Chon’sin Triad kind of mobs.”

Robin sees Lon’qu flinch almost imperceptibly, but pretends not to notice for his sake.

“I’ve got a bad feeling he’s not just involved because he feels bad for the kiddos,” Gaius says, glaring so hard it’s as if he hopes for Morristan to spontaneously combust from the severity of his gaze alone.

“We need to get a closer look at the situation,” Robin says with a far off look in her eyes, her mind already visibly formulating plans. “Isolate them if possible to get a feel for what’s going on. Nowi, what are their schedules looking like? Any events that Candace and Morristan are going to?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Nowi grins. “Candace used an old friend to get them invitations to a little gala at the embassy. It’s in a couple days.”

“Perfect. Nowi, I’m going to need you to get us an invitation.”

“Sure thing! I’ve got some old friends of my own.” Nowi pauses to crack her knuckles then wiggle her fingers. “My friendly hacking hands!”

“Well,” Robin sighs pleasantly, leaning back in her chair to more easily look at the others with a sweeping glance. “Who’s ready to crash a party?”


	15. Enter, Stage Right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS REALLY BUSY AND FORGOT TO UPLOAD THIS LAST WEEKEND BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER??? *dodges various objects thrown at head*

“What?” Lon’qu asks flatly, looking somewhere off into the distance instead of at Olivia, who squeaks at being noticed staring.

“Your, ah…” Olivia flounders for a moment, gesturing helplessly. “Y-y-your t-tie!”

“Oh,” Lon’qu says, looking down to adjust its crooked position.

“B-better,” Olivia frowns, unwilling to say outright that it’s really not.

“I don’t see why Gaius can’t do this,” Lon’qu mumbles, following after Olivia as they make their way past the foyer. Though Olivia is able to ease into the façade with practiced confidence, Lon’qu makes no such efforts to hide his discomfort. “I’m the retrieval expert. Just point me to the kid and I’ll get him out.”

“I’m disinclined to believe it’s that simple,” Robin admits as she sits beside Nowi in the back of the van, parked a safe distance down the street from the embassy building. She closes her eyes, trying to capture the scene the other three must be seeing. “It’s not that I doubt your retrieval expertise, but there’s more to it than that if we’re going to get to the heart of Candace’s operation and take her down. I need Gaius to be able to float to another position if necessary. Also, you’re Candace’s type. We need every edge we can get against someone with experience at grifting.”

“Type,” Lon’qu grunts, displeased.

“Just try to take it as a compliment, big guy,” Gaius says, a little too amused to sound entirely comforting.

“You might want to try looking a little less murderous, sir,” Olivia adds in character, the respectful ease of one of the attending waiters dripping off her tongue.

“It puts me in good company here then,” Lon’qu grumbles.

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Robin sighs, scrolling down the guest list Nowi hacked into previously. “You’ll find in Nohr that dirty deeds are the norm.”

“Kinda makes you wonder why good people like Libra even wanna come here,” Nowi says airily, drumming her fingers on her crossed legs.

“He sees the good in them,” Olivia answers, her true voice poking through.

“I’ve got eyes on Candace,” Gaius reports, making his rounds as another of the party’s waiters. “On your three, Lon’qu.”

“I need a clear view,” Olivia whispers from the corner of her mouth, weaving through the pockets of guests in an attempt to find a better vantage point of their target.

“Try the potted plant by the service door,” Gaius suggests, catching her eyes from across the room and inclining his head in its direction. “I’ll keep an eye out for Candace’s muscle head.”

Olivia grabs a platter on her way, balancing champagne flutes atop it. She purposely slows down by Lon’qu, allowing him to relieve her of a couple.

“Be direct,” Olivia whispers as she continues on her way. “She’s going to pick up on any tell as soon as she spots it, so you’ll have to stay solid.”

Lon’qu gives an affirmative grunt, walking forward with all the grave seriousness of a man headed for the gallows.

“A-ah…” Olivia grimaces, passing along her platter to Gaius to stand at attention by her plant. “Loosen up a little. You want to be the man who’s comfortable with these sorts of events.”

Lon’qu makes a valiant effort.

“That’s… fine,” Olivia offers. “Introduce yourself. Be self-assured.”

“Is anyone else finding this hilarious coming from Twinkletoes?” Gaius chuckles.

“Are you still looking out for Morristan?” Robin says, a warning tone in her voice.

“C’mon, Bubbles, have some faith. You know I can multitask.”

Lon’qu politely clears his throat, causing Candace to turn and look at him. He holds out one of the glasses.

“Care for a drink?”

“Yes, thank you,” Candace says, curious.

“Lon’qu, you’re going to need to smile,” Olivia whispers desperately. “Give her something.”

Lon’qu does manage a smile, however small it is. Candace raises her eyebrows approvingly, though her smile is just as reserved.

“It’s surprising to see a woman such as yourself here alone,” Lon’qu says, his voice a bit flat to be the flirtation Olivia had originally instructed him on, but still enough to coax a twitter from Candace, her hand raised to girlishly hide her mouth. She pauses there for an almost uncomfortable few moments, as if striking a pose for some invisible camera.

“Candace Dragé,” she announces, taking care to straighten her back, cocking her head, again giving the impression of a person posing for a picture. She offers up her hand.

“You can do it, Lon’qu,” Olivia whispers. She pumps her fist victoriously as Lon’qu finds the strength to take Candace’s hand and bring it to his lips.

“Navarre Sun,” Lon’qu returns.

“You must not be from around here,” Candace says when her hand is returned, a hint of judgement edging into her voice. Olivia cringes, taking in a sharp breath.

“Oh. It really shows?”

“I would ask why a man such as yourself is here just as you’ve asked me. You keep looking off to the left, so either you’re lying, or are about to. And your bow tie is crooked.”

“I was afraid of this,” Olivia whispers.

“Being destroyed by a bad bow tie?” Gaius quips.

“No,” Olivia says. “Lon’qu, you need to step it up. Remind her of your social status.”

“You’re right,” Lon’qu says, just as much to Olivia as Candace. “I’m not one for… things like this. I’d much rather be at home at the farm.”

“A farm? In the states?” Candace asks, more reserved than before, but unable to entirely hide her curiosity.

“Yes,” Lon’qu replies, closing his eyes for a moment as if to recall an old, sweet memory. “I know it sounds silly. The stereotypical heir trying to put off his work and chase after petty dreams of riding horses. Of being a travelling man…”

“Keep going, Lon’qu,” Olivia prompts gently.

“I just can’t stand being cooped up in boardrooms,” Lon’qu continues. “I’d rather stay active—travel and see the world.”

“Well…” Candace chuckles lightly, glancing down at her feet as she tries to hide a smile before giving up and looking back up. “I’m glad to have met you in this little corner of it.”

“It might just be my favorite spot on the list,” Lon’qu says.

“Good,” Olivia says as Candace laughs again. “You’ve got her happy now. You’ll want to anchor that feeling. Bring the champagne to your lips and take a long sip—savor it.”

“Cheers,” Lon’qu says, doing as Olivia instructs. He and Candace clink their flutes together.

“Every time she smiles or laughs, you’ll want to repeat that. She’ll link that—and you—with that warm, sweet feeling.”

“That’s surprisingly conniving of you, Olivia,” Robin laughs.

“This is my job,” Olivia reminds her.

“Hey, I’ve got Morristan,” Gaius whispers, ducking around an older couple as he walks slowly around the room. “He’s talking to another guy. I’m assuming a lackey.”

“I’ve got something on Morristan too,” Nowi says, nudging Robin and pointing to her computer screen. “Look. The whole reason he had his connections to all those mobs is because he worked as a smuggler. He hooked them up. He spent some time in a federal prison before getting out to open an institution that—get this—takes in war orphans.”

“So it’s not Candace that’s in charge so much as Morristan,” Robin notes. “She’s more of the figurehead that was brought in to assuage any fears of an orphanage being run entirely by men. Letting her in on the smuggling profits would satisfy her as pay.”

“Stay focused, Lon’qu!” Olivia whispers urgently as Lon’qu falls silent out of habit to listen. “Candace doesn’t know anything about our conversation and you need to keep it that way. Now, you need to give her a set time. It gives a sense of urgency and makes her more willing to act rashly.”

“I’ve really got to get going,” Lon’qu says to Candace. “I’ve got to speak to the casting director. Everyone’s still worked up about a few more roles.”

“Roles?” Candace repeats, her eyes lighting up like a starving man seeing a banquet just within reach.

“Oh, yeah,” Lon’qu answers. “That’s my main reason for coming here. I’m helping to fund an independent film we’re shooting here. It’s a horror movie, war setting. And the woman that was supposed to play the mother character had an accident so she wasn’t able to make it…”

“Are you looking for a replacement?” Candace presses, nearly vibrating in her excitement.

“Well, yes, but… why do you ask?”

“I’m an actor!” Candace squeaks.

“Really? No kidding. That would be perfect! Do you have a…?” Lon’qu trails off as Candace instantly digs through her clutch, thrusting her card into his hand. “Great! I’ll give you a call tomorrow and send you a car to take you to the set.”

Lon’qu is quick to escape, weaving effortlessly through pockets of people just as the live band switches tempo into a quicker swing.

“Nice job, Lon’qu,” Robin praises. “We’ve got our bait in place.”

“What about that m-movie set?” Olivia asks, blushing as one of the serving staff passes by right as she speaks, giving her an odd look for her seemingly one-sided conversation with a plant.

“It’s not unheard of for small independent productions to film in places like these,” Robin explains. “It’s cheaper, both for the location and in hiring a crew. Nowi’s already found us the perfect site not far from here. All that’s left is to take it for ourselves.”

“H-how do you p-propose to do that?” Olivia asks.

“It’s easy enough. We take a couple key positions in the production ourselves, and the rest will fall into place.”

“Bubbles, I’ve lost track of Morristan and his surly friends. Last time I saw them it looked like one of them was taking a phone call.”

“That’s fine. Nowi, I trust you to find out where they went. Gaius, I need you on standby so you can keep an eye on them.”

“You got it,” Gaius returns.

“In the meantime,” Robin says to the group at large, “let’s get ourselves a movie set.”

* * *

 

Gaius weaves through the production team, pausing for a moment at the snack table to pilfer a glazed donut.

“It must be way cheaper to film here,” he says thoughtfully. “I don’t see why else they’d be somewhere that can turn into a potential warzone if someone so much as sneezes during a peace talk.”

“It’s a-actually n-not uncommon,” Olivia confirms. “E-especially for small productions like this.”

“But with something so small won’t they notice if the producer and director suddenly change?” Gaius asks.

“The crew is local,” Robin replies, stepping out of a trailer outside. “And their pay is cheap. Cheap enough that it doesn’t pay to care who’s in charge, so long as the money keeps coming.”

“Fair enough,” Gaius relents.

Gaius looks up as a man stands up across the room, screaming into his phone, startling the small gaggle of ladies around him.

“What the hell are you—no, you get me the fastest flight out of here! I’ll sort this out myself!”

“Sounds like someone just found his movie funds mysteriously disappeared,” Nowi giggles, leaning over to Robin to show the now empty bank account on her phone. “Gaius, have you gotten me the director’s number yet?”

“Oh, this old thing?” Gaius asks innocently, flipping the director’s phone up into the air and catching it.

“He needs to get the phone back to get the message,” Robin says pointedly. “Olivia is finishing up the phone call to his assistant right now.”

“Not to worry, Bubbles. I’ve got it well in hand. Once he’s done cussing out that poor kid he’ll be heading this way. After eight different people in the last half hour, he’s going to need the sugar boost.”

“Gaius, just say goodbye to the donuts and get over there.”

“Fine,” Gaius sighs heavily, giving the sugary confections one last fleeting glance. “I won’t forget you, my friends.” He heads over to the short, angry director, stumbling into him as soon as he lets his latest target go. “I’m so sorry,” he gasps, papers and costumes held in both of their hands tumbling to the ground.

“It’s fine,” the director says with all the decorum of a volcano about to erupt.

“So sorry,” Gaius says once more as he scoops up the costumes and scurries off, leaving the director to lunge for his scripts and phone left behind in the melee.

The director pauses halfway back up to his feet as he reads the flurry of text messages his assistant is sending.

“There’s no way he’ll turn down the chance to direct a blockbuster like War of the Emblems,” Olivia whispers as she steps out of the trailer to join Robin, blushing in pleased embarrassment as Robin and Nowi both give her a thumbs up. “I, uh… a-almost feel bad for him that’s it’s n-not a r-real offer.”

“I don’t,” Nowi chirps. “He’s a big meanie.”

“He’s already on the phone to get his tickets,” Gaius chuckles as he watches from a safe distance, hanging the costumes up with the others on the costume rack. “Funny how he’s not even looking to alert the producer.”

“He thinks he’s too good for this anyway,” Robin says with a shrug, letting out an internal sigh as she reaches for a water bottle actually filled with water, not alcohol. She’s not drunk enough for all of Olivia’s supportive smiles. “Lon’qu, are you ready to receive Candace?”

“Yes,” Lon’qu says, short and gruff.

“You okay, Lon’qu?” Robin asks carefully, noting the subtle uneasiness in his tone.

“Fine,” Lon’qu returns, convincing no one.

“Am I good to head to the orphanage?” Gaius asks.

“Yes, but take your time taking stock of the perimeter once you get there,” Robin instructs, grudgingly letting Lon’qu off the hook. “We don’t know what we’ll find inside, but if there’s as many kids in there as we think, it may be hard to get around without any sort of interaction with one of them.”

“May not be an issue if they’re confined to rooms,” Gaius says grimly.

“We can’t rule that out as a possibility,” Robin admits, feeling the tenseness settle in her shoulders. “But remember, first priority is Hayato.”

“What about the others?” Lon’qu asks suddenly, even as he spots the car coming towards him, Candace in the back.

“I’m working on that part,” Robin replies carefully.

Lon’qu doesn’t respond. He waves once Candace gets closer.

“I’ve got to get on set,” Robin turns to look at Nowi and Olivia, adjusting the decorative scarf draped about her neck. “Do you have the scene ready?”

“Yep!” Nowi salutes. “It’s printing right now.”

“Good. Get it over to us ASAP.”

Robin jogs off to the set building. No one even questions when she sits down in the director’s chair, calling politely for a coffee with cream and two sugars. She is sipping at it as Lon’qu and Candace approach, Lon’qu still a bit stiff, but Candace’s excitement is strong enough that she doesn’t focus too much on it.

“Palla!” Lon’qu calls out, sounding all too grateful to no longer have to make small talk alone.

Robin turns around at the sound of the name, not even looking at Candace as she gives Lon’qu a far off look, like one whose mind is elsewhere.

“Navarre, there you are! We were just about to start up the filming.”

“I wanted to speak to you about that. This is Candace.”

Robin looks over appraisingly.

“Huh,” she says noncommittally. “Give us a spin?”

“Oh? Of course!” Candace says with a laugh, doing as Robin says.

“Hmm, I’m liking it,” Robin grins.

“I’m thinking the mother for her,” Lon’qu leans over towards Robin.

“You know what? I’m thinking the same thing! You are a godsend… Candy, was it?”

“Candace,” she corrects, still laughing.

“Perfect, perfect,” Robin says, already waving her off as if she were only one thing of many going on. “Can we get a script over here? Somebody give me a script?”

“D-do you have the script?” Olivia squeaks, hurrying back over to the prop bus next to the trailer where Nowi sits in the open back, typing hurriedly away at her laptop.

“Yep!” she announces, pausing for a moment to lean back and reach for it, sitting atop one of the boxes. She hands it proudly to Olivia.

“Wait, Nowi,” Olivia pauses, looking back before she could even begin to walk away. “Is—is this the r-right one? I don’t see the part with the mother…”

“Oh, that’s a couple pages in,” Nowi replies cheerily.

“O-oh,” Olivia laughs awkwardly. “I-I thought y-you were j-just writing the one scene, s-so, uh—”

“Don’t step on my creative license!” Nowi pouts. “I started with just the one scene, but it was too boring. It needs to be earned! For the drama! That’s what the viewers want to see!”

“This is a movie about zombie werewolves,” Lon’qu mutters flatly as Robin distracts Candace to buy some time, trying to hunt down a coffee for her.

“On top of being a horror war movie! Which means it needs to be as cheesy as possible!” Nowi exclaims.

“W-wait a second…” Olivia squints suspiciously at Nowi’s script. “Who’s Ninian?”

“Olivia,” Nowi says in a voice that can only be considered her best attempt at a Robin impression. “How are you at being a cheesy actor?”

“W-what?” Olivia squeaks.

“Bad idea,” Gaius pipes up.

“I… I can do it,” Olivia replies, straightening her posture and narrowing her eyes.

A strained silence reigns supreme then, but no one argues.

“Okay, do it,” Robin whispers so that a temporarily distracted Candace doesn’t hear.

“I w-won’t let you down!”

Nowi giggles, pleased beyond measure with herself.

* * *

 

“And… Action!”

Olivia dashes through the fake trees, gasping for breath. She nearly stumbles over her own feet as she risks a glance over her shoulder at her pursuers. With a little cry half way between a gasp and a sob, she makes a final dash to the relative safety of the small cabin. She nearly collapses into the door as she closes and locks it, even as the soldiers slow down, guns held aloft and ready to fire.

“Come out with your hands up! We have you surrounded!”

“You have the wrong person!” she cries, tears streaming freely down her cheeks as she rests her back against the wooden door, hands clasped before her in prayer. “It’s not me! It’s not me!”

Outside the cabin, the captain lets out a harsh command. Offset, Robin points to Nowi standing at the sound panel, not taking her eyes off the scene. Then, flashes, and the sound of gunfire as the soldiers in the woods empty their clips. Deadly silence hangs over the set as Olivia slowly slides down into a sitting position, a rosary held up to her lips as they move noiselessly. She stops, numbly bringing a hand to her blood soaked torso, the dark red oozing into a puddle below her.

“It’s not… me…” she breathes out, hardly even a whisper, then slumps lifelessly to her slide, as if making one last ditch effort to crawl away to safety.

The camera closes up on Olivia’s still face as Nowi gleefully plays the audio clip of a wolf’s howl, followed by men’s screams.

“And cut!” Robin calls.

The entire crew erupts in applause as Olivia sits up, her entire countenance lit up in a proud smile. Nowi, still clapping excitedly, leans over to whisper to Robin conspiratorially.

“I thought she was going to be awful, you know, like this movie is. I mean, she can’t act.”

“She can if the acting is an act. Just not if it’s her.”

“I’m confused.”

“It stumps me sometimes too.”

Robin gives Olivia two thumbs up as she looks over expectantly. With a little squeal of delight, she claps her hands together, practically dancing off the set.

“Alright, let’s get the next scene ready! Moving on to the next scene with mother and son!” Robin calls. She gives Lon’qu a little nod.

By the time Candace arrives out of makeup in full costume, Robin and Lon’qu are facing each other, throwing their arms up as they continue an argument half way in.

“No, it’s done! This is a sign!” Robin shouts, throwing pages out of her script into the air, leaving Lon’qu to hurriedly reach for them. “We’ve got to cut the scene! It’s not worth it!”

“No, no, we can make this work.”

“No, it’s not possible!”

“What’s wrong?” Candace asks, all polite concern at the threat of a cut scene, worried that it might be hers.

“This damned scene is what’s wrong!” Robin returns, holding her script out with one hand to hit it repeatedly with the other with rapidly increasing force. “I’m sorry, but we’ve just got to cut it. We don’t have time to keep playing around; time is money!”

“Cut what?” Candace asks, worry etched in her face.

“The mother and son! It has to be cut!”

“No, it doesn’t,” Lon’qu argues, far more calm than Robin, who is pulling at her hair.

“No no no!” Candace agrees vehemently.

“It just can’t be done!” Robin reiterates.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Candace presses.

“The kid that’s supposed to play your son didn’t show up to work this morning, and this isn’t the first time he’s done it either,” Lon’qu explains.

“We’ll just have to cut it and make some rewrites,” Robin sighs.

“No, we don’t,” Lon’qu reasons patiently. “We can look for another boy.”

“A boy? I can get you a boy!” Candace smiles hopefully, looking back and forth between Lon’qu and Robin.

“No, no you can’t!” Robin waves her off dismissively. “This boy, he was perfect. Reddish-brown hair, old gray eyes—an old soul. No, we can’t find someone else now!”

“I know the perfect boy for you!” Candace cries, reaching out to grab Robin’s arm pleadingly.

“We don’t have the time for any more delays!”

“No, no I can bring him here right away!”

“That would be better,” Lon’qu says. “We won’t have to cut anything that way.”

“Yes! No cuts!” Candace agrees. “I’ll bring him with me!”

“Okay, fine, you’ve convinced me!” Robin throws her hands up in the air. “But he’d better be ready for filming tomorrow.”

“He will!” Candace nods fervently, already dashing off, no doubt to round up the boy.

“Hey,” Nowi cuts in. “How do you know she’ll bring the right boy?”

“A boy like the one I described isn’t likely to fit anyone else. Natural red hair like Hayato’s is incredibly rare in Nohr. Even though it’s less so in Hoshido, it’s still not the most common. Pair it with an "old soul" and he’s one of a kind.”

“Really?” Nowi says, unconvinced. “Because Hayato looks familiar to me.”

“I believe that’s a discussion for another time,” Robin sighs. “Gaius, are you on your way to the orphanage?”

“That I am, Boss Lady.”

“Good. Candace is on her way. Get eyes on Hayato. If you can see what state the other children are in, good, but don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Robin can feel Lon’qu’s gaze boring into the back of her head.

“Got it, Bubbles.”


	16. Exit Stage Left

“It's a little tight,” Gaius says, fidgeting with the headpiece fitted around the back of his head.

“I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t fall off!” Nowi pouts. “If you don’t like it, why don’t you try building all of our tech and monitoring all of the channels and doing all of the hacking and writing all of the scripts for movies that we won’t even finish and—”

“Okay, okay!” Gaius holds up his hands in surrender.

“It’s, uh, a little fuzzy,” Olivia notes, squinting at the computer screen they rest of the team is huddled around.

“It’s because we’re far away,” Nowi explains. “I’d normally like a clearer picture, but I’d rather be safe with our signal just in case we get any surprises from any other ones like when we were dealing with the Roddicks.”

“It’s not as likely in this case, but still, good call,” Robin says, fighting back a smile as Nowi beams from the praise. “The point is, Gaius, we’re able to see what you see. So behave yourself.”

“I’ll try,” Gaius chuckles, already scaling the wall.

It takes him a couple minutes to work his way up, even with his rope and other climbing equipment. At last, he alights at the top, surveying the flat roof. He walks to the door, careful not to make a sound.

“Th-this doesn’t look like a-an orphanage,” Olivia shudders.

“So far, I’d say abandoned army warehouse,” Gaius adds, working at the lock. “A pretty big one too.”

“Look, this is the place,” Nowi says, sounding hurt at the insinuation that she could be wrong. “Candace’s call to Morristan ended up here, and her car is still heading in this direction.”

“It… can’t be where they’re keeping the kids though,” Olivia says quietly.

“It can,” Lon’qu answers.

Robin pauses to look back at Lon’qu, who is now leaning against the wall, not even looking at the screen. He looks over at Robin for a moment before turning his attention back to the far wall.

“I’m in,” Gaius says triumphantly, closing the door behind him, cringing at the creaking from the old hinges.

“I’d say your guess about abandoned warehouse was right, Gaius,” Robin notes as Gaius looks around.

Gaius stands on an upper level of a massively high room, a series of catwalks stretching out to other islands of concrete with huge openings to look down into the space below. He pauses on each set of stairs or ladder as he looks around, taking stock of his surroundings. With great care, he sneaks over to the nearest opening to peer down at the men down below gathered around several large crates.

“What does an orphanage need armed guards for?” Gaius says, all previous good humor gone.

Robin can feel Lon’qu standing behind her now to get a better look at the screen. Down below Gaius, there is no denying that the men are making rounds of the area, Morristan pointing as he gives orders from his spot beside the crates.

“It—it’s all a f-front then?” Olivia whispers in a tiny voice.

Candace enters, crossing over to join Morristan, both of them exchanging greeting kisses on the cheeks before they have a quick discussion. Gaius leans forward, but isn’t able to catch anything of meaning past the sound of their voices.

“We need to make sure Hayato is here,” Robin says suddenly.

Gaius flinches at the sound of footsteps coming from the closest stairs. With a start, he grips onto the railing and pulls himself over onto the other side, hanging out in the open over a dangerous drop.

“Oh my gods!” Olivia shrieks.

Gaius cringes at her sudden shout, but otherwise, he remains unmoving as he turns to look down below. The footsteps pause up above as the man stops to glance around; down below, Candace, Morristan, and the other men continue on, unware of Gaius hanging a hundred feet above them. Only once the footsteps from up above have retreated to another set of stairs does Gaius pull himself back up.

“Hope I didn’t scare you there, Twinkletoes.”

“I-i-it’s f-fine.”

Gaius goes as quickly as he can to the nearest set of stairs without making too much noise, taking care to avoid the guards making their rounds. He passes through another large room similar to the one he came into but with an extra level. He is on that middle level when he hears a tiny cough echoing from a nearby hallway down a flight of stairs. They all watch with bated breath as Gaius carefully approaches, takes the steps, walks down the hall, takes the corner, then pauses in front of the door a few steps away, listening. This is cut short at the sound of more footsteps and voices from the way he came. With nowhere else to hide, Gaius immediately opens the door and ducks inside, closing it behind him.

He stops in his tracks.

“Oh, gods,” Gaius breathes.

The room is small, two rows of bunk beds leaving just enough space for a small, unadorned table squeezed into the middle. From all around the room, Gaius is assailed with large eyes staring out from small, sunken faces, unmoving and silent as they lay or sit on beds or even the floor, most beds shared between two children. Gaius walks slowly inside, too horrified for words as he simply stares back at the silent figures, all of them wearing ill fitted, dirty clothes. The only sound now is Olivia letting out a shaky breath, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Robin dully knows she must think of a plan at once and spot Hayato from the crowd, but shocked numbness instead takes over her mind.

Gaius immediately returns to his senses at the footsteps outside the door paired with Candace and Morristan’s voices speaking an unfamiliar language. He drops and rolls under one of the beds. The child sitting above him immediately shifts the thin blanket down and flings his feet down to the floor in what is clearly an attempt to help Gaius hide as the door is flung open.

Candace immediately marches in, barking a couple words to the children at large before she stops and turns to the door to say something to Morristan still outside in the hall. Gaius, his view shortened by the blanket and skinny legs, shifts to the side, vying for a better look. He immediately backs away out of reflex as Candace lets out a harsh “you!” and storms forward to the bed Gaius hides under. The skinny legs scurry away as Candace grabs the boy’s arm and tugs him along.

“I’ve got a job for you,” she says, none of the warmth or kindness she showed to Lon’qu or Robin earlier evident in her tone. Instead, she offers a backpack to him, shoving it into his arms. “You need to get changed; you look disgusting.”

Candace ushers the boy out roughly. Morristan remains behind only a couple seconds longer to say a few gruff words to the kids before he exits after Candace. Gaius shudders before he crawls back out from under the bed.

“Robin…” Gaius says shakily. She can hear the unspoken question: ‘what now?’

“We have to leave them for now,” Robin says, a bad taste in her mouth. Behind her, Lon’qu’s jaw is clenched so tight that his teeth grind against each other.

“…Okay,” Gaius says, letting out a long breath, sounding no less pleased than Lon’qu. He gives the room another long look before he makes for the door and doesn’t look back. “You better promise me we’re going to do something about this.”

“We will,” Robin says, looking back at Lon’qu. “There’s just too many pieces moving right now. But this is not the end yet.”

“Good,” Lon’qu says, still tense despite his best efforts to regain his composure.

“Hey, guys,” Gaius whispers, drawing everyone’s attention back to the screen. “We’ve got new players.”

Gaius is back above the large room with the crates from before, Morristan and a couple of his men down below talking to a new group who looks no friendlier than the others. Morristan opens one of the crates to allow their guests a look. Far off as Gaius is, the contents are clear enough to see what they are—rifles.

“These are nice,” the newcomer says appraisingly, getting a good long look before Morristan closes the lid. “Military grade?”

“Did you expect anything less?” Morristan returns with a grin. “The kids did good on this last run.”

“Kids?” Nowi repeats. “He can’t mean…?”

“He does,” Lon’qu answers before she can finish her question, his eyes alight with anger.

“Very good,” the buyer says.

“At first, I doubted moving them up to weapons. Drugs are easier for kids to sneak through since they’re smaller. But even kids can make things happen with the proper motivation.”

“We’ll be back tomorrow at sunset with our payment.”

“Perfect.”

Morristan and his buyer shake hands, then follow each other out. With the floor temporarily empty, Gaius silently works his way down the stairs to get a closer look. The first crate he looks in is the one Morristan uncovered. Sure enough, a row of packed assault rifles peer back up at them. Gaius mutters a curse as he looks hopelessly around at the other crates stacked in a row—a dozen in all. A couple bags rest against a crate, but Gaius doesn’t bother opening it up, instead nudging it with his foot. Robin suspects either the aforementioned drugs or some flavor of dirty money.

“Yeah, it’s about as bad as it looks,” Gaius mutters angrily.

“Okay,” Robin says. “Gaius, get out of there and meet us back at the hotel.”

“Those kids need to get out now,” Lon’qu says. Robin turns slowly at the hint of a threat in his voice.

“And we will get them out. But we can’t tonight. Not with Gaius all on his own. Not to mention there’s no way Morristan wouldn’t notice, and it could be enough to spook Candace and keep her from bringing Hayato with her to the set. There’s still enough time to figure this out and come back for them later.”

“Those kids might not have time,” Lon’qu argues, his anger giving him the courage to hold a gaze stronger than any he’s ever sent to Robin. “Every second they spend there is a second they’re in danger.”

“I know that, Lon’qu,” Robin replies, taking care to remain calm. “But running around halfcocked won’t help them either. We’ll come up with a plan then come back.”

“If we snatch Hayato like you plan, these kids might not be here when we come back.”

“Lon’qu, I need you to trust me.”

Lon’qu scoffs, finally relinquishing his death glare to look up at the ceiling as if his long lost patience might be hiding up there somewhere.

“We’re not going to abandon them,” Robin tires again. “We’re just going to take this one step at a time. Just stay with me for now, please.”

Lon’qu doesn’t reply for a while, still staring at the ceiling. Gaius is safely back to the roof and securing his rope to propel back down the wall when Lon’qu looks back at Robin. Though he seems to have recovered himself enough to know longer be prone to exploding, Robin knows the fury is still there, pushed back below the surface.

“Fine,” Lon’qu says, and walks out without another word.

Robin sighs heavily, leaning against the wall as Olivia and Nowi look on with worried expressions.

“I’m not drunk enough for this,” Robin mutters. She peeks through her curtain of white hair at Olivia, who only looks more concerned. Robin sighs again, frustrated. “Pass me my water bottle.”

* * *

 

Robin scans the face of the boy in front of her, ignoring Candace’s expectant grin entirely. His hair is a messy russet brown, large gray eyes lined with exhaustion, face pink from one last minute scrub in an attempt to wash away the layers of dirt and sweat. Though he’s scrawny—made only more obvious by the shirt a few sizes too large—he doesn’t look starved. Robin’s gaze catches on Candace’s hand, clutched almost too tight on the boy’s shoulder, as if she expects him to bolt. Though he looks resigned, Robin sees a spark deep in his eyes to suggest he’s biding his time for a chance to do so.

“What do you think?” Candace asks, no longer able to hold her tongue.

Robin snaps to attention, grinning.

“Perfect! He’s perfect! Navarre, bring this boy to makeup, if you would?”

Lon’qu and Robin share a quick look. Lon’qu nods, raising his arm to direct the boy onwards. Though Candace at lasts releases her hold on his shoulder, she already makes to follow them.

“You’ll be with the other women, Miss Dragé,” Robin says pointedly. “Be on the set in ten.”

“Alright,” Candace relents, but she still watches Lon’qu walk Hayato away.

Hayato, for his part, says nothing, looking up with big eyes as Lon’qu clears his throat.

“You’re going to be just fine,” Lon’qu says, stiff.

Hayato says nothing, though he does give Lon’qu a half smile. Lon’qu stands off to the side, keeping an eye on Hayato as makeup gets to work. As promised, Candace and Hayato are ready as soon as can be done, then guided into position on set amidst the fake trees.

“Okay, your motivation!” Robin barks out at them from her seat. “You are being chased by an unknown assailant, and you want to get the boy to safety. Your beats are straightforward, and I assume you’ve already read what you need to do?”

“Yes,” Candace calls over.

“Good. Ready, and… action!”

Candace bunches up her skirts and runs, one hand gripping Hayato’s arm, her going for theatrical gasping, and Hayato resigned to being along for the ride, albeit grudgingly. She throws herself upon the door of the set’s shed, wrenching it open almost comically before ushering Hayato inside. She immediately zeroes in on the trapdoor below them, points, then opens it, helping Hayato step down.

“Stay there until I call for you!” Candace commands tearfully. “Don’t make even a sound!”

Hayato nods, then steps down the rest of the way. The door shuts soundly behind him. Hayato gasps in surprise at the other person under the set as Candace paces furiously above them, closing the shed door and securing a rake through the handle in an attempt to bar the door. Olivia holds a finger to her lips for silence before beckoning Hayato to follow her.

“We’re going to get you out of here,” she explains, though her Hoshidan is clumsy. The message is nonetheless received as Hayato nods.

A long, eerie howl echoes throughout the set.

“No…” Candace gasps, chest heaving. “It can’t be true. They can’t be… real…!”

Then, loud snuffling right by the door. Candace clutches at her chest, trying to hold her breath. For a long moment the snuffling and movement from outside the shed remains, then ends suddenly, leaving naught but silence in its wake. With curiosity and dread in equal measure, Candace inches closer to the door. The camera closes in on her face. She leans forward, trying to peer through one of the gaps in the wood.

With a flurry of movement, the door is flung aside, throwing Candace back. Though the creature is obscured and not fully seen by camera, the blood shooting from the raking claw marks across Candace’s chest is so present to the point of being comical. She shrieks, dropping over the trap door. She convulses once, twice, then is still.

After a few seconds, Candace sits up suddenly.

“I don’t like that one. Let’s do it again?”

She pauses, doing a double take at the director’s chair. The empty chair stares back at her.

“What…?”

She stands up, stepping off of the trap door to open it up. The space underneath is as empty as the chair.

“Get me my phone!” Candace screeches. “Where is my phone?”

In the prop truck, Gaius snickers, tossing Candace’s phone up and down a couple times before letting it sail out the open window.

“Oops.”

“Nice job, team,” Robin says, smiling at Hayato, the boy sitting in the back beside Olivia with an extra coat thrown around his shoulders. “Olivia, could you tell him that he’s going to be okay, and that we’re taking him back to Libra?”

Hayato perks up simply at the mention of Libra’s name, looking excitedly to Olivia as she translates. Hayato begins to say something back, but is interrupted by a rough turn that nearly knocks them all out of their seats.

“Everything okay up there, Lon’qu?” Robin asks, walking forward then staring blankly at Nowi in the driver’s seat.

“He already left,” Nowi says innocently.

“And you never thought to mention that before we left in a hurry?”

“I figured he was just going to meet us ahead at the hotel. He was pretty eager to get away from Candace.”

“Nowi—”

“Oh, it should be fine. His com is still on!”

Robin looks down slowly, Nowi’s gaze following, at Lon’qu’s com sitting innocently in the cup holder.

“Oh, poo,” says Nowi.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic would not exist without both the existence of Leverage, a TV show created by John Rogers and Chris Downey, and the team that brought us Fire Emblem: Awakening. All I've done here is mash together characters and plot. I will try to keep up with regular updates, but be warned that your humble writer has a pretty full work/class schedule.  
> Also, a huge shoutout to my beta reader and fellow writer [Kashi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kashimalin/profile) for making sure that I'm not presenting a giant mess to all of you. Cheers and happy reading!


End file.
